Stay With Me
by 1withthewindandsky
Summary: Those who know the true story behind what happened the night Dumbledore died believe that Draco worked alone, but what if he didn't? Mallory and Draco's relationship flourished at a time when Draco desperately needed someone to keep it together. But can their relationship survive a war? What about a child?


"He's my son too, you know"

"Yes, Draco, I'm well aware of who the father of my child is."

"Well you could've fooled me. Gallivanting around Diagon Alley with our son and…..him. IN FRONT OF EVERYONE I KNOW! MAKES ME LOOK LIKE A FOOL!"

"Tom. You're well aware that his name is Tom."

"He's not Adrian's father."

"You're becoming repetitive and Tom and Adrian will be home any minute, are we done?"

"No, I'm staying to see my son. I want to know what happened at the dentist."

"He was told to floss more. You can leave."

"If you would just leave this muggle town he wouldn't even have to know what a dentist was. How did you end up here, Mallory? Dating some random mudblood Hufflepuff, pretending that we never had a child together…"

"Will you ever stop judging people by their blood status and their houses, Draco? We've been out of school for over 2 years, and if I remember correctly you wanted to put blood status aside when you had a child with a half-blood. You know exactly how I ended up with Tom-"

"-yeah, he chased you around Hogwarts for 7 years and you became desperate enough to actually give him a chance."

"No, my son's father decided that he didn't want to be around anymore and I was lucky enough to find someone to take his place!"

"Oh, please. Everyone knows you two were shacking up behind my back well before the year had turned."

"You nailed it, Draco. Full term pregnant and cheating on my boyfriend. You know me so well. Maybe if you were around a little more, you wouldn't need to wonder about what I was doing without you."

"I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE, I TOLD YOU THAT YOU DON'T NEED A PLACEHOLDER FOR ME-"

"YOU COULD HAVE CHOSEN TO RUN. YOU ALWAYS HAD A CHOICE."

"I AM NOT A COWARD-"

Draco was interrupted by the door opening.

"DADDY!" The tiny curly headed- strawberry blonde toddler shouted as he ran to Draco as fast as his little legs could go.

Draco's entire demeanor changed. A huge smile came on his face. "Hey, buddy! I missed you!"

"Ah! Hello Draco! What a pleasant surprise!" Said the tall thin ginger man following close behind.

"How was he, darling?" Mallory asked, trying to ignore Draco's looming presence.

As the two kissed hello Draco cringed. The fact that they both had curly red hair and light eyes made them look practically related. It was kind of weird until you saw them with Adrian. Draco would never admit it out loud but Adrian was more ginger than blonde. Draco looked more like his babysitter than his father.

"Absolutely pleasant, as always." Tom responded.

"You see?" Mallory turned to Draco. "He's fine. You can go now."

"DON'T LEAVE DADDY!" Adrian begged.

Draco wanted nothing more than to stay with his son and his ex, that is, if Tom wasn't in the way.

"Why don't you and I go out for ice cream and a movie and Mommy and Tom can have some alone time?" Draco shivered at his own words. Encouraging alone time between Mallory and Tom wasn't his goal, but as much as he despised their relationship he wanted nothing more than to get to spend time with his son.

"He needs dinner, Draco. Ice cream isn't dinner." Mallory sneered coldly.

Tom shh-ed Mallory as he moved over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Let them have fun. It will be nice to have the night off."

Tom kissed the top of Mallory's head as Draco internally mocked the height difference between the two. Tom had to be at least 6 feet tall if not more, while Mallory was at least a foot shorter. It was nauseatingly cute. Draco's mother used to point out the same trait between him and Mallory when they were dating. Although, Tom did have a few inches on him.

"I suppose you're right. You'll have him home by 6?"

"Don't rush, of course" Interrupted Tom.

He sure made it hard to hate him, but Draco found a way.

"See you in a bit." Draco said as he quickly walked to the fireplace to floo out of what had become quite the awkward situation.

Once they were alone Mallory turned to Tom, "Why are you so nice to him? No- _how_ are you so nice to him? To everyone. How did I find you?"

Tom kissed her head, "I've always been..around, I just had to wait for you to see me."

That was very true. Mallory was always aware of Tom's existence. In fact, they met before the two had ever set foot into Hogwarts. Mallory was actually terrified stepping on to the Hogwarts Express on that first day. So terrified that she was at the platform 45 minutes early, just waiting for the train. Her mother was a muggle so she wasn't allowed past the barrier, and her father had left them when she was very young. So once Mallory ran through that wall she was on her own. When the train arrived she went as far back as she could and got a compartment all to herself. It wasn't until the final whistles were blowing that a young Tom with a mess of orange curls knocked on her compartment door. He shined the most optimistic smile Mallory had ever seen and asked to sit with her. Mallory didn't think much of it, it wasn't like she was going to talk to this stranger (despite his several attempts to start a conversation), but from that day on Tom didn't stop chasing her. Tom held on to his optimism despite seven years of Mallory politely declining most of his advances. She did agree to go to the Yule ball with him their 4th year. She would never forget that experience.

Mallory was a Slytherin and quite proud of it, but she never fell into the whole house separation thing that most Slytherins did. She had to problem intermingling with other houses. In fact, most of her friends were Ravenclaws because like Mallory, their favorite Friday night activity was staying inside with a good book. That's why when it was time for everyone to start pairing up for the Yule ball, Tom wasn't afraid of asking a Slytherin, as most Hufflepuffs would be.

Mallory was always pretty, She had long curly red hair and grey/blue eyes that sometimes seemed so light that they looked clear. But her shyness stopped herself from getting to know anyone too personally. To the girls that knew her she was known as the weird girl who didn't enjoy shopping and talking about boys. They only made casual conversation with her and not much more. The boys found her to be a lot cooler. She was much more like them in many ways. She enjoyed playing cards with them late at night, drinking "manly" drinks they stole from the kitchens, and joking around with one another. But still, she wouldn't call them real friends, just 'school friends'. People she had no problem talking to in a common room setting, but if she passed them on diagon alley she'd probably just smile or wave in their direction. She noticed stares from a few Slytherin boys in the common room as the ball approached, but she didn't expect to be asked, she actually never even planned on going. Not even with her group of friends who were all going stag. But then about 2 weeks before the dance as Mallory made her way to potions, she looked up to see Tom jogging down the hall towards her.

"Hey! Are you going to the Yule Ball?" He asked confidently.

Mallory didn't personally talk to Tom much, but their friend groups did intermingle and when she did leave her dormitory he was usually there.

"I wasn't planning on it, not totally my scene, it's a little loud."

"Oh, c'mon now. This is one of those things that will never come around again for us, and you're going to miss it for some quiet alone time?"

"I just think I'd rather read."

"That's very respectable, but I'm almost 100% positive that if someone doesn't convince you to go you're going to regret this in the future."

"Well, I'll let you know if someone does that." Mallory said as she started to continue to walk down the hall.

"But that's what I'm doing!" Tom said loudly to bring Mallory to a halt once again. "It would be my honor to take such a lovely girl to the ball. And if you hate it I will gladly see that you find yourself to a good book in a quiet corner."

Mallory admired Tom's confidence. She knew that he had a little crush on her for a while now and she never wanted to lead him on. But he wasn't like the other 4th year boys. He was confident, but not cocky. And he was always respectable, the kind of boy you bring home over Christmas break.

As Mallory thought it over, Tom interrupted her thoughts, "Don't feel obligated to say yes, I mean, I'm sure you've been asked already, I'm not trying to convince you to do something you don't want to do, I just don't want to see you regret your decision."

He was too sweet, Mallory may have been a Slytherin, but she wasn't heartless.

"Tom, are you sure you want to go with me and not with a real date? You deserve to have a great night too, I don't think I'd be that great of a date."

"Nonsense! I'm not interested in asking anyone else."

Mallory smiled, "Okay, we're on then."

And with that, she made her way to potions class.

At first, Mallory was a bit worried that she was sending the wrong message to Tom by accepting his invitation, but in the next two weeks the only conversations they had were about her dress color (dark purple) and what time he would meet her outside of the Slytherin common room (630). He wasn't overly clingy or extremely excited, and that made Mallory a lot more relaxed about the whole situation.

The day of the ball anyone years 4 and up had a classes-free day to prepare themselves for the night. Most of the girls in Mallory's dorm woke up extra early to start preparing. This confused Mallory greatly because all they needed to know were a few spells and some idea of what they wanted to look like. She took the day off of classes as a way to get 5 extra hours of sleep.

Mallory rolled out of bed at about 1pm to find her dorm filled with twice the amount of girls than usual. Each had wands in their hands, pointed at their friends, trying to make one another look more beautiful. Mallory was thankful she was an extremely heavy sleeper because the buzz of high pitched talking echoed down the halls. As Mallory made her way to the bathroom she received many confused stares as she was the only one who wasn't nearly ready to walk out of the door 5 hours early. These girls were wild, Mallory couldn't even brush her teeth because all of the bathroom mirrors were in use by girls who were twisting their hair up, then down, then up, then down in a repetitive, indecisive manner. This was only after she had to listen to the sounds of a girl regurgitating up her breakfast after her friends weight loss incantation went wrong. Mallory was more than thankful that she wasn't desperately trying to impress her 'date' or she could quite possibly be one of these girls.

Mallory decided that she would probably need about 45 minutes to be completely ready leaving her with more than enough time to look around for some food. She made her way down to the common room where she saw a group of boys surrounding a large basket of pastries that they either stole from breakfast or forced a house elf to get.

Mallory took a seat on one of the open chairs by the boys and grabbed a pastry"

Before she was even able to take a bite she heard an all too familiar voice shout in her direction. "Oi! Who said you could enjoy our spoils? Shouldn't you be off squeezing into pantyhose and curling your hair?"

"First of all, Crabbe, you're not a pirate. You didn't plunder these pastries, you stole them from the kitchen. Second of all, why do you know what pantyhose are? Do you have some secret life you'd like to talk about?"

The rest of the boys laughed.

Draco put down his drink and interjected, "I doubt she's even going to the dance. She's probably staying here all night reading one of those books she's always talking about."

"Actually I _am_ going. I'm just a little more level headed than the girls upstairs who are melting off their hair and giving themselves rashes on their face with their botched makeup jobs."

"You're brave enough to go stag? I'm shocked, Craven, I took you for the reserved type."

"I hate when you call me by my last name, Draco, you know that."

"If you want to hang out with the guys, I'm not going to treat you any different than one of the guys."

"It's not like you call girls by their first name."

"I do if they're fit."

The boys were about to react but Mallory cut in too quickly. "Very clever, _Malfoy_, but your opinion of me doesn't really matter at all. For your information, I'm going to the ball tonight with Tom Hiddleston. He asked me a few weeks ago. And even if I hadn't been asked I would not be too afraid to go alone. I'm not desperate for companionship like you are."

Draco ignored her jab and focused on her date. "You're going with a Hufflepuff? That's just sad."

"Please, Draco, I don't have time for you house segregation crap."

"So defensive! You mist really like this kid. Whatever floats your boat, Craven. Just watch the pastries. Not even a Hufflepuff wants to date a heffer."

The guys laughed again.

"Ugh, you're a pig." She said as she grabbed two more sugary treats and marched back upstairs.

The next few hours were spent watching the girls in her dorm continue to go mad. At 3 it seemed to have pretty much died down. A large amount of the girls sat in a circle in the common room, passing around a bottle of fire whiskey talking about how excited they were. For the first time since she woke up Mallory was able to start getting ready in peace. As expected it didn't take very long. She enjoyed a long, thorough shower, waxed her body with a spell, put on a very minimal amount of makeup, and let her hair fall into soft waves down her back. She slipped into her dress at 530 and still didn't know what to do with her extra time. She decided that if she remained in her dorm she would more than likely fall back asleep and miss the dance entirely, so she went down to the common room looking for the boys or really anyone to talk to. What she found was nearly all of the students who were going to the ball enjoying what seemed to be a pre-party. The smell of liquor wafted through the room and Mallory could feel the music pulse in her chest. She knew that this is pretty much what her entire night would entail, but she felt uncomfortable with the whole scene. She wasn't a dancer or a socializer. Most of these kids grew up attending balls and charity social with their rich parents. Mallory didn't even know she was a with until her letter came in the mail. She grew up in a 2 bedroom flat in a small muggle town. Charity events were held for families she knew, not attended by them.

A tray with champagne floated overhead and Mallory grabbed one, drinking it quickly so that she could replace it with another. As she made her way to the emptiest corner she could find she felt a hand on the small of her back. She quickly spun around to meet the icy grey eyes of Draco Malfoy.

"Ah, Draco. Come over to tell me how hideous I look in my dress?"

Mallory wasn't fond of Draco. He was cocky, rude, and discriminatory. They had been in a competition with one another since their first year when they had divination with one another and Mallory was the first to learn how to properly conduct "wingardium leviosa" leaving Draco to be second in the class. From then on every class they had together was a competition of who got the highest grade and who the teacher favored more. Draco always came out on top in potions while Mallory trumped in history. Draco was slightly better at astronomy but Mallory came out on top when it came to DADA. Some would call it a friendly competition, but Draco often got personal. Nothing about that boy was friendly.

Draco eyed Mallory up and down like she was his prey. "Actually, Craven, I'm shocked. You actually look feminine in that dress. Very impressive."

He wasn't wrong. Mallory was actually quite pleased with how her dress fit her. She had a rather curvy figure with a large bust and bottom. The dress was trumped style and strapless. It hugged her body to right under her bum and then let out with flowy ripples to the ground. It also cut up her right leg to make it a little bit sexy. The whole thing was dark purple with different shades of purple and pink at the flowy bits.

"Thanks….I think. Don't let Pansy hear you say that, though. She's watching you like a hawk."

Pansy was absolutely nuts, and Mallory had no idea why Draco had any interest in her. She indeed was watching Draco everywhere he went. Mallory had heard her talking about following him throughout Hogsmeade on their last trip to make sure he wasn't up to anything. They weren't even officially dating, he had just asked her to the ball. But that didn't stop her from hanging all over him and constantly referring to herself as his girlfriend.

Draco sneered. "I'm only taking her to please my parents. My father has some kind of business deal happening with her father and it would be beneficial for her to go home and tell her father how wonderful the Malfoy boy is. It's dumb really. Before I was told to ask her I was actually thinking about asking you."

"Me? Funny, Draco, real funny."

"I'm being serious! You look bloody hot when you try and you're a right laugh when you hang out with the guys. I wouldn't mind showing you off at the ball." Mallory smiled. "Merlin knows that Tom kid has no idea how to handle a body like yours. You would have had a damn good time with me tonight." Her smile was gone before it could even fully form.

"Ugh, for a moment you were being sincere. It was nice." Mallory snarled.

"Am I not being sincere?"

"You're still a pig, Malfoy. Just like always. Go enjoy your night with Parkinson. Make sure she has a 'damn good time'"

Draco smirked and grabbed Mallory by the waist. "Oh, you know I will."

She pushed him off and walked away to get more alcohol. He was a jerk down to the core and just didn't understand it. She supposed that was just how he was raised, everyone knew Malfoy's father. He too was a git. Everyone knew that.

By the time 630 rolled around Mallory had enough alcohol in her to actually feel comfortable in a congested room of sweaty teenagers. She stumbled out of the dungeon to see Tom right there waiting for her. His curly ginger locks were somewhat tamed and he was in a black suit with a purple bowtie and pocket square. It was actually very cute – or maybe that was the alcohol talking?

She stumbled up to him. "Why hello there handsome. Just on time!"

Tom blushed, Mallory could tell that she needed to tone it down. "You look absolutely stunning! I'm stunned! Shall we go?"

"After you!"

Tom laced his arm around Mallory's and led her to the great hall. Mallory was pretty drunk but that was all flushed away when they got to the great hall. The theme was ice and snow and the school got the band 'The Weird Sisters' to play. It was pretty wild. Tom immediately pulled Mallory on to the dance floor where they found their group of friends. Mallory didn't even really expect to be on the dance floor at all but once Tom started dancing there was no stopping him. He was actually very good. About halfway in Mallory was starting to feel the effects of a stomach full of champagne and jumping around like a mad woman. Tom offered to go sit down with her and get some food.

Once they sat down Tom looked at her with a serious face.

"I didn't know you could look so serious. Where's the bubbly Tom we all know and love?" She asked.

"Is there a reason to as why you had to get wasted before coming out with me tonight?"

Mallory giggled, but she didn't mean to, it just came out. "Everyone in my common room was drinking, it wasn't like that for you?"

"No, stealing alcohol is definitely a Slytherin trait. Gryffindors too probably. But no Hufflepuffs."

"Oh…" Mallory realized that she was way drunker than any of her friends, and that she had been hiccupping this whole conversation. And that the room was spinning….

Mallory went to stand up but fell back down into her chair.

"I'm not feeling too great…"

"I've had an amazing night with you. All that's left is more food and a few slow dances. I think I'll be okay without you, maybe it's time to call it a night?" Tom was so polite.

"Uh, okay. Yeah, sure. Can you help me back to the dungeons?"

"Of course." Tom said as he helped Mallory out of her seat and through the school.

As they reached the Slytherin common room doors, Mallory exchanged a hug with Tom.

"I actually had more fun than I thought tonight. Thanks for convincing me to go."

"I hope that's not the fire whiskey talking."

"No whiskey, just champagne." Mallory giggled.

"I'd help you up to bed, but I've never tried going into the Slytherin common room. I'm not sure what kind of traps are set up to catch other houses, but I'm sure there are some."

"Without a doubt. It's okay, I got it. I'll see you over the weekend, I'm sure. Thank you again."

"It was my pleasure." Tom stared at Mallory for an extra second. Looking for some kind of inkling that a good night kiss was in order. But Mallory quickly turned around and whispered the password to get into the common room.

"Goodbye!" she said as she stumbled in.

"Bye." He smiled.

Mallory rarely drank alcohol, and it was showing. As she stumbled through the portrait all she could think about was getting up to her room and into her bed. As she looked around the common room seemed empty, which was lucky for her because she was almost positive that she was guaranteed to make a fool of herself trying to get up the large flight of stairs that led to the dormitories. Her suspicions were proven correct when she hit stair number five with her toe and crash landed.

"BOLLOCKS!" She shouted.

"That's the closest thing to cursing I've ever heard from you, Craven!

Mallory whipped her head around to find Draco with an outstretched hand at the bottom of the steps.

"Need some help?" He asked smugly.

"When did you get here."

"I've been sitting in the corner the entire time watching you struggle to get to your room. I was going to enjoy the free entertainment but now your bleeding all over the stairs that my parents paid to carpet."

Mallory looked down, she indeed had seemed to bust her knee open. The blood was more than visible through the slit of her dress. "Double bollocks."

"C'mon, I have some bandages up in my dorm."

"Girls can't go in the boys dormitory, arse."

"Another curse! I like drunk Craven! Didn't you just hear me? This dorm would be trash if it weren't for my parent's money. I have my own room."

Of course Malfoy had his own room, Mallory thought. He's so spoiled. But she was in no place t fight him. If she denied his uncharacteristic kindness she would bleed out on the steps in a drunken haze.

"Okay then." She said as she accepted his help.

Mallory leaned on Draco as they made their way down the hallway of boys' dorms. She had never been here before knowing that she would never be able to get into any of the rooms there due to their enchantments against female students. The hallway was nearly identical to the girls', door after identical door with a few doors at the end for prefects' rooms. Except for this hallway had one extra door at the end.

Draco made his way to this one and put his wand in a hole below the doorknob, and it opened. Mallory couldn't believe it. The room was the same size as a prefect's room except for instead of 2 beds there was one queen-sized bed. The whole thing was elaborately decorated with soft looking emerald green sheets on the bed, an expensive looking sofa against the wall, and even Draco's very own bathroom. The walls were covered with enchanted posters of Draco's favorite bands, quidditch players, and Slytherin memorabilia. It was really a home away from home for him.

Draco saw the incredulous look on Mallory's face. "Incredible what money can do, right?"

She had no response. He let go of her and sat her down on the sofa. It was more comfortable than her bed back home.

"Wait here." He said as he went to the bathroom for supplies to fix her.

He couldn't have been gone more than 2 minutes, but when he came back she was nearly passed out.

He sounded like he was talking to her from the opposite end of a tunnel, "Don't you know anything, Craven? You're not supposed to fall asleep on your back when you're drunk."

Mallory could feel something being wrapped around her knee, and then she felt herself being lifted from the couch.

"Draco, I have to go to my room." She mumbled with eyes closed.

"I'm not superman, Craven. This dress alone weighs 20 pounds, and you're dead weight."

Mallory moaned.

"I'm going to help you into something actually comfortable, okay Craven?"

Mallory turned. "Draco…"

"Relax. I'm only _slightly _enjoying this."

She didn't have to open her eyes to know that he was smirking.

Mallory felt her dress unzip in the back and proceed to slide down her body. Maybe she was too out of it to care or maybe she actually trusted him after all he had done for her, but at this point she didn't feel ashamed of being practically naked in front of Draco. She felt an oversized soft shirt wrap around her and then an equally soft pair of shorts. It seemed that Draco only wore clothes made of silk. Or maybe that was the alcohol making everything feel as warm and fuzzy as her head felt.

Mallory woke the next morning to a pounding headache and a body wrapped around her. She turned over to find the peaceful face of a snoring Draco Malfoy.

"Malfoy?" she said groggily. Her head hurt so bad that she couldn't feel her face. She rolled out of bed to find herself in a shirt and a pair of boxers that weren't hers as well as her knee all wrapped up in a white bandage. She was confused.

She shuffled to the bathroom in search for something to cure her headache. All she could find were some bandages and floss. She washed her face with some water and went back to Draco's bed. She didn't even care to get the details of last night, she just wanted to sleep away the pain.

The next time Mallory woke up Draco's warm body was no longer next to her. She could hear the shower water running and decided that maybe it was the best time to make a quick escape. As she wiggled back into her dress Draco stepped out of the bathroom wearing only a towel around his waist.

"Oi! What is this! You haven't even had breakfast!" Draco nodded towards a plate of bacon eggs and toast on the window ledge next to a cup of orange juice and 3 aspirin.

"Oh praise, something for this headache!"

Draco chuckled. "Do you really want to do the walk of shame in your dress at noon? I thought you might like to stay for the details of last night that you're more than likely lacking."

Mallory choked on her orange juice. "Noon? And what details? I know you're an arse, Draco, but there's no way you took advantage of my status last night."

"I'm flattered, Craven. No one has ever had so much faith in my character."

"Don't make me thing otherwise." She responded coldly.

"What exactly do you remember, then?"

"I remember some of the dance, Tom bringing me upstairs, feeling sick walking through the portrait, and then feeling warm right before I fell asleep on your unnecessarily luxurious bed."

"You missed the part when you tripped up the stairs and cut your knee."

"Oh, the bandage, of course. Is it bad?"

"You'll live. I wrapped it for you." Draco seemed quite proud of himself.

"Well, Malfoy, I am both shocked and thankful for your gentleman-like manner, but I really have to go." She said with a bit of bacon.

"Let me give you sweatpants and a tee shirt to walk in. I'll get the dress to you. It's going to look very suspicious if you walk to your dorm like that."

"If you had sweatpants, why did you put me in boxers?"  
"I just really love the way girls look in my boxers." He said smugly.

"Ugh, seems like I used the term gentleman too quickly."

"Relax, you look great in whatever you wear." He said, tossing a pair of sweatpants in her direction.

"Your compliments are really out of place, Draco, where is this side of you coming from?" Mallory asked through the open door of the bathroom, where she went to change.

Draco appeared at the door, "You just looked really great last night, and I actually enjoyed your company."

"You enjoyed having me stumble around and pass out in your room?"

"It was cute."

Mallory grinned. "Well, thanks. For everything. If you don't mind, I really have to go now. She walked up to the door, but Draco refused to move out of the way.

"Can I at least get a hug goodbye?"

Mallory felt uncomfortable. She wasn't the hugging type, especially with Draco. She was starting to feel like one of the dozens of other dumb girls who Draco invited up to his room.

"Uh, sure." She said apprehensively.

Draco opened his arms, but instead of going in for the hug he held Mallory's gaze. He moved in close but his intentions had obviously changed. It was there, in Draco's private bathroom the night after the Yule ball that Mallory and Draco kissed for the first time.

It wasn't anything magical. Mallory wasn't even sure how to feel about it. Draco was undeniably attractive. They were young but he was still very muscular, all of the girls in her dorm wanted him, but he wasn't her type. She saw him as an equal, as someone she played cards with, joked around with, competed with. Not someone she kissed. The kiss was prolonged by Draco, of course. She kept her mouth closed despite him trying to make more out of the situation. At any point she could have pushed him away and left. Perhaps that was the most confusing part of the situation for Mallory. She wasn't exactly sure she wanted to.

A lot of thoughts ran through Mallory's head in that short amount of time. When Draco realized she wasn't at all relaxed, he pulled away.

He opened his mouth to speak but Mallory beat him to it. "Draco…I…uh…you should probably go find Pansy, you must have left her at the dance pretty early last night."

"I couldn't stand being around her. I still can't. Why don't you stay, it's not like we have any classes to get to."

"Uhm, no…I, uh…Have plans that I'm already running late for. Uhm, thanks again."

"Thanks for what part?" He asked

"For…for everything." Mallory wasn't a fan of the feeling, but she did feel kind of flattered at Draco's pass at her. She wasn't going to let it show, though. She wasn't the kind of girl to fall at his feet, so she did her best to hide her bright red cheeks as she quickly left his room.

Mallory wished she and Draco had some kind of romantic story from that point on, but that wasn't at all the case. After that night he tried to pursue her, but Mallory wasn't really interested. She started off trying to spend more time in her dorm rather than in the common room, but Pansy made that impossible. She saw Mallory leaving the boys' hallway wearing Draco's clothes and wouldn't stop harassing her; calling her a slag, making as much noise as possible so Mallory couldn't read her book, just being a child. So Mallory retreated to the Library most days. Maybe 4% of Hogwarts students actually used the library, and Draco was not one of them. When he realized that Mallory wasn't going to give in to him, it didn't take long for him to move on. Not a week later she saw him snuggling up close to another Slytherin girl. She had long straight black hair and seemed much more his type. Mallory wasn't upset, she was actually relieved. Everything seemed to be going back to normal.

A lot of time went by that way. Mallory always had the lurking suspicion that Tom still wanted to date her. But she brushed it off as him being an extremely nice guy. And Draco showed no interest in Mallory at all. By their 6th year Mallory had given up hiding away in the library all the time and started to become more outgoing. She actually made a few friends with girls in her own house making her friendship with the Ravenclaws slowly fade away, and with them went Tom. Although he would still send her owls from time to time asking to hang out and if he saw that they were in the same class he was sure to sit close to her. Mallory didn't mind, he really was a genuinely kind person, but he knew that outside of class he didn't really fit into her life anymore.

Her two main friends were Verity, who seemed like your typical Slytherin at first with waist length straight dark hair and dark eyes, but was actually very kind and Bethany who unlike Verity looked kind at first with shoulder length curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes but could put anyone in their place with just a few choice words. The two were close friends since they started going to Hogwarts, they met Mallory when 6th year room assignments were given and they were paired up in a room with her and French girl named Eleanor who ended up transferring to Beauxbatons 3 weeks into the year, which was probably for the best because she barely spoke English and was always shouting at the 3 girls in rapid French.

That left the room to the three girls. Mallory was surprised at how well the three got alone, considering her lack of friends for the past 5 years, but they were pretty great. Standing next to each other they looked like they were from a muggle show that Mallory used to watchas a child called "The PowerPuff Girls".

Things were really looking up for Mallory. She did extremely well on her O.W.L.S. and was doing so well in her classes that her dreams of being an auror really looked possible. She had her friends who introduced her to a life of partying that she never even knew existed, and even though she was single she was enjoying the single life. She didn't sleep with every guy she met but she enjoyed flirting and didn't mind taking a guy somewhere private to snog every once in a while.

Mallory started going to parties with Verity and Bethany they always had one thing in common: Draco was at the center. She supposed she just hadn't noticed how rich and popular he really was because she had never run with that crowd, but the truth was that Draco pretty much ran the school – at least from a students' standpoint. Verity and Bethany said that was typical, if there was a 'VIP' section of the party – Draco was there. Always. It's how he got all the girls that he did and why there were always girls who desired him, even the ones that he had already been with.

Interestingly as the year went on Draco began to show up to less and less parties. It was odd because in class he would look more tired and hungover than the rest of us combined, but then later on he was nowhere to be found. It was towards the end of Mallory's 6th year that everything changed. She now calls that the beginning of the rest of her life.

Despite her newfound social life, Mallory didn't neglect her school work, her study habits just had to change. On nights when there wasn't anything in particular happening Mallory would escape back to the library where she spent so many hours in during the end of her 4th and all of her 5th year. She often had to sneak in after hours to get in those extra hours that she needed to remain on top, but she didn't mind breaking the rules – especially if it was for academics.

She remembers the date perfectly – March 30th, 1997. Mallory was minding her own business in the library, reading by lamp in a corner to not be noticed by any of the professors patrolling the halls when she heard a noise. A book fell to the ground followed by a, "bollocks!". She gathered her books to further investigate who had snuck out in the middle of the night to come to a library.

Slowly she tiptoed in the direction of the noise. Towards the middle of the library she could see the light of a wand glowing. She peeked her head around a shelf to see the party king himself.

"Are you stalking me, Draco?" She asked calmly.

Draco jumped, dropping all of the books in his hands with a much too loud bang for two students sneaking around in the middle of the night."

"Bloody hell! What could you possibly be doing here- it's past midnight- what's going on?"

"A little defensive there. _I'm_ doing some late studying. I think you're the one a little out of place here. You haven't been in the running for the top of the class since before we took the O.W.L.S."

"Yeah, well…I have more important things to focus on. School isn't really a big deal in the grand scheme of things…"

"You already know what you want to do when we graduate?"

"I'll probably just work at the ministry like my father."

Since the dark lord's return most of us knew that working at the ministry wasn't the only thing Draco's father did. Mallory was one of the people who believe Harry Potter since the triwizard tournament. Not everyone saw the look in his eyes when he cried "he's back". But Mallory was nearly front row and knew he couldn't be lying. Now it was confirmed that he was alive and with his presence came his followers. Draco's close and extended family were know to be a part of all of that. Mallory knew what she read in books but she didn't know much about what it was like to live in a time where the dark lord was at large. She really didn't want to.

"Draco, you know you can make your own decisions…"

"Yeah well –" he was cut short by a voice.

"Who's there?" It was a female. Sounded like Professor Sprout.

"Follow me." Draco whispered.

He grabbed Mallory's hand and led her through the library and out an opposite door than the light of Sprout's wand. They were in one of the school's endless hallways, it was hard to tell which in the darkness, but all of the rooms were classrooms. There was no way they were going to make it back to the commonroom.

"Draco maybe we should just-"

"Shh, trust me."

It was when they were about to reach what seemed to be a dead end something incredible happened. Where there was empty wall a moment before, appeared a door.

"In here." Draco said, pulling Mallory in.

Mallory looked around. The room they were now standing in was one that she had never even heard of. It was quite gigantic, it actually seemed endless, and there was stuff everywhere. Mallory couldn't even identify what any of it really was, it seemed to have no rhyme or reason. There were shoes, boxes, trunks, toys, clothes – everything. Draco immediately went up to a cabinet and started sifting through the books he took from the library.

"Draco….what's happening?"

"You're not supposed to be here and won't be here again so don't worry about it. Let's just stay here until the coast is clear, pull up the sofa over there and sit down. Take a nap. It's late. It may be a while."

"Why are you being so short with me? Something is seriously wrong with you, I'm your friend, I want to help."

"Craven, I haven't considered you a friend since you completely rejected me 2 years ago. I don't need your help."

"Does this have something to do with your father?"

"CRAVEN. THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. THIS IS MUCH BIGGER THAN ME OR THAN YOU OR EVEN MY FATHER. DO AS I SAY."

Mallory quickly and quietly took a seat on the couch. Draco looked at her with a part crazed part desperate stare. It almost seemed as if he has tears in his eyes. He then quickly turned away and continued to flip through the pages of a large book. Mallory stood up and moved closer to him.

"Magical Transportation and How To Use It." She read aloud. "Draco I've gotten almost perfect grades in most of my classes. Enchanting has always been a specialty of mine, can I help?"

"I don't need anything enchanted. The cabinets are already enchanted. I just need them to have a 100% success rate."

"Cabinets…where's the other one?"

"It's somewhere else. And I need this one to connect to the other…I shouldn't be discussing this. I honestly can't. Just let me work."

"You don't have to discuss it. I know all I need to know. I want to help."

And she did. She worked on the cabinet for hours and didn't ask any questions pertaining to what they were doing. She tried to dig deeper with Draco, trying to figure out why he was so disheveled lately, but it seemed that all he cared about was the cabinet. When Mallory hit a wall she tiredly walked over to the sofa to take a nap.

"Draco, can you wake me up in 20 minutes?"

"That sofa's crap. Definitely from decades ago. There's a bed behind that wardrobe that I've used. It's actually quite nice.

"What is this place, Draco?"

"You said no questions."

"Can't I just have an inkling."

Draco sighed. "It's a long story, come to bed and I'll tell you what I can."

Mallory hesitated. She remembered what happened the last time she got into a bed with Draco Malfoy.

"C'mon now, I've run out of time to mess with girls. We're both tired and neither one of us deserves the back pain that comes with that sofa."

Normally Mallory would protest but Draco was acting really genuine and she didn't want him to turn into regular jerk Draco.

She got into the bed which truly felt wonderful and rolled over to face draco as she pulled the sheets up to her face.

"Okay," she said as he took off his shoes and got in with her, "story time."

"From what I've gathered this is what I call 'The Room of Hidden Things', and it comes to me when I need the room of requirement."

"The room of requirement…I've heard of that…"

"Potter used it last year for his army against Umbridge."

"That's it! Okay, go on."

"There's not much to it, to be honest. This room is full of things people needed to dispose of in a hurry. I put my cabinet here because it's a place that I can work where I won't be disturbed."

"Who would need to dispose of a bed?"

"Beats me, but it's damn convenient." He said as he visibly got more comfortable.

"So you need to hide a cabinet that's connected to another cabinet….and you won't let me in on why?"

"I like you, Mallory, but I really can't get into it. It's life or death."

Mallory snickered, he'd never called her by her first name before. "A cabinet is life or death? Sounds unlikely."

Dracos eyes got water again. "You have no idea."

Just like before he quickly diverted Mallory's eyes by rolling over so he was no longer facing her in the bed.

Whatever was going on with Draco it was obviously very serious. Mallory had never seen this side of Draco. It warmed her heart. She took the opportunity and wrapped her body around Draco's. It felt a bit silly because she was significantly smaller than him. He was quite muscular and broad. He grabbed on to her and, and before she knew it they were both fast asleep, spooning one another not unlike the night they shared after the Yule ball.

Mallory woke to a loss of heat when Draco sat up in the bed.

"We have to get up. We've missed breakfast as well as our first morning classes." He said.

"Whats the point in getting up if we've already missed class?"

"What if we miss our next class as well?" Draco asked.

"You said this is more important than grades and to help you with this we need to sleep."

Draco put his head back down next to Mallory.

"This is more important than _my_ grades. I enjoyed your help last night but this can't be a daily thing."

"Why not?" Mallory sat up, "You can't be in here every night on your own. You'll go insane. Even if I'm only keeping you company some nights, I should be here for you."

"I can handle it, Craven. It's not like we're married. We hadn't spoke in so long before last night. We barely know each other, I don't know why you seem so worried over me."

"You just..looked so upset last night. I want to help you."

"I'm not a charity case, Craven." Draco got out of bed abrupbtly, "You don't understand what's riding on me to get this job done. You're never going to understand and I don't care to explain it. Go get something to eat, go to your classes, and go on with your life."

Mallory got out of bed too and followed him towards the door. "Your stubbornness is going to kill you, just talk to me!"

Draco turned around and looking right into her eyes shouts, "I. CAN'T."

Mallory wasn't sure what came over her but she grabbed his face with her ands and kissed him. Hard. It was much different than the last kiss they shared. This kiss was full of passion. For a quick second, Draco just stood there, confused at what Mallory was trying to do. But that didn't last long, Draco quickly relaxed his body and pulled Mallory closer into him. She felt his tongue on her bottom lip and she was prompted to open her mouth. The kiss got deeper and he took control, pushing her against the cabinet that they had been working on all night. He grabbed her waist and pulled all of her into him. It was then that she realized that she wasn't sure of what she was doing. At first she kissed him to place all of her energy somewhere in hopes of breaking him down a little, but the reason she was in that room at all was to help a distraught peer. Was he just a charity case? She pushed him away.

"Draco…"

He sighed and and breathed heavily. They were both out of breath. "You say…that I'm confusing you. When here you are. Pulling a repeat of 4th year. You act like you want me, and then you push me away. Craven, I am so confused. Either leave me to do what I have to or come along with me, but stop making my life more complicated than it already is because I feel like I'm going to explode!"

"I..." Mallory knew she wanted to help Draco, but she didn't want to pity him. She also wanted to continue to kiss Draco, but she didn't want to just be a way for him to get his mind off of whatever else was going on with him. "I'll be back tonight. Meet me in the common room at 9."

"Okay, Craven. Just don't be late." He said as he kissed her gently on the lips.

Mallory wasn't sure what was going to happen or what she was feeling, but she knew that if she didn't go back to the room of requirement with Draco that he was going to be there alone. She wasn't going to do that to him.

She stepped out of the door and walked down the hallway that looked so unfamiliar the night prior. She now realized that it was professor's offices. Quite clever of Draco to come down here when the professors would either be in bed or patrolling the corridors. He was really a smart boy. Mallory quickly made her way down the hall (she would have no explanation to being there if someone were to see her) when she felt a hand on her shoulder, like a ghost. She spun around to be looking into the eyes of Professor Snape.

"And where would you be coming from?" He asked in a deep voice that sent shivers down Mallory's back.

"I…"

"Am skipping class and hiding in the worst place imaginable? Am going to be back here at 7pm for detention? Yes. I believe you are."

"I'm sorry, professor, but.."

"7pm." He said before Mallory could think of any kind of excuse.

Without waiting for a response he turned into a room that must have been his office.

It was extremely odd for Snape to give a Slytherin detention. Especially one that is at the top of his class and for something as trivial as skipping class. Mallory's heart was in her throat. She really didn't like getting in trouble, especially by someone as intimidating as Snape. She reminded herself to tell Draco where she would be. Perhaps he would prefer to meet her there.

When Mallory finally made it back to her dorm after stealing some food from the kitchens, she expected to find an empty room in which she could nap. Instead, she found Verity and Bethany sitting on her bed, waiting for her.

"You haven't been in this room since dinner yesterday. Where in the would could you have possibly been?" Asked Verity.

"I bet she was off having romantic escapades with that boy from the party last Friday." Responded Bethany.

"The one who basically held a funnel to her mouth all night? I wouldn't be surprised, he sure knew how to get a girl wasted. Seemed like a creep to me. A rich creep though…I heard she has detention with Snape tonight."

"Verity, how did you even hear that, it happened like less than an hour ago…"

"I have my ways." Verity Responded. "Now, tell us what's going on because we're skipping lunch for this."

"Nothing's going on. I was in the library last night and fell asleep reading. Snape found me this morning and gave me detention for being in the library past hours. That's all."

"That's not like Snape to give a Slytherin detention for no good reason." Said Bethany suspiciously.

"That's what I said!" Mallory wasn't keen on lying to her friends but she obviously couldn't tell the complete truth and she didn't feel right bringing Draco into it at all. "Now go eat lunch, I'm going back to sleep. I've already missed my classes for today"

The girls left and Mallory slept just as she planned. She woke to find that it was almost dark and probably nearly time for her detention. She wanted to tell Draco where she would be so she wouldn't have to go back to the common room for no reason, but she also wouldn't dare be late to Snape's detention. He kind of terrified her.

She made her way to Snape's office with butterflies in her stomach. But as she neared the door it swung open to a visibly disgruntled Draco who turned out of the room, grabbed Mallory by the hand, and pulled her down the hall and away from Snape's office.

"Draco, I.."

"_Had_ detention. I know."

"But I can't…"

"I took care of it."

Before Mallory could respond a door appeared on the wall to their right and Draco pulled her in.

"Draco I think you need to calm down."

Draco spun her around and grabbed her other hand, putting them against the wall by her head. "I am calm." He said, and then he kissed her passionately, and with a purpose.

It was obvious was Draco was going for. He moved his mouth down Mallory's neck slowly and then back up. She had to admit, it was apparent that he knew exactly what he was doing. As he got back to her mouth she opened it to slow him down, but he didn't give her the chance. She wanted to know what happened with Snape and why he was so desperate to see her, but he wouldn't slow down. Her body was overriding her mind.

He grabbed her by the thighs and hoisted her up around him. Without breaking the kiss he walked over the bed and threw her down onto it with him on top of her. Her hands moved to under his shirt which was a lot more muscular than she ever expected. He responded by beginning to unbutton her shirt, which she didn't protest at all. For a second she felt the urge to roll on top of him, but if it weren't for his dominance there was a chance that none of this would be happening. It took Draco breaking the kiss and pulling back a bit to unzip his pants for Mallory to realize that she wasn't prepared for them to take whatever they were this far.

She stared at him shirtless, with pants half off breathing heavily for a moment. He leaned back in, kissing her stomach. She put both of her hands on the sides of his head and lifted it up so he was looking at her.

"Draco, I'm not sure what we're doing, or if this is a stunt you pull with girls often, but this doesn't feel right."

He put his head back down on her stomach in exasperation. "You need to let your guard down for more than 5 minutes at a time."

"I just don't like the idea of being played by you. I genuinely want to help you, we would make a great team. But knowing you I'm like the 12th girl you've given a sob story to and this is all an act."

"Telling you what I'm doing would be incredibly dangerous to you. That's what I was talking about in Snape's room. He knows what I've been doing and has been helping me out from time to time. He was infuriated with me for letting you know even this much. But I promise you, by the end of the school year it will all make sense."

Mallory sighed. She knew she shouldn't push the issue. "Then lets get back to work, and we can continue all of this when we're done."

"I'm not allowed to kiss you until June? You do realize that this is what I've been trying to do since our 4th year, right? Yeah, it's great to have your help with this damn cabinet, but there are plenty of smart kids that I could have chosen to get help from if I needed it. If it were someone else in the library with me last night I would have left them there to get in trouble, but it was you so I took you with me. I know I have a reputation, but I'm not evil. I promise you that I have never had anyone other than Snape in here with me and god knows this isn't what I wanted to do with Snape!" Mallory laughed. "And I promise you that I'm not letting anyone else in here after you. If I ever break my word to you, than I won't blame you for not trusting me. But I've never done anything to hurt you, so why would you think that's my intention?"

Mallory took a moment in deep thought. He was right, other than joking around when they were younger Draco was never actually mean to her, he only had a reputation of being a bad guy. If all he wanted was sex, he probably wouldn't work so hard to get it from her when there were so many girls willing to do it for free, and he was on the verge of tears last night, that wasn't fake.

She smiled at him, "I guess the moments kind of ruined now, isn't it?"

He smiled too, "Is that your way of admitting that we have a real connection and this isn't just a business partnership?"

"If you screw me over, Malfoy, I'll kill you."

"That's enough dirty talk for me." He smirked and went back to kissing her.

They didn't exactly pick up where they left off, before their talk Draco was passionate and sexual, taking enough control for the two of them. Now Draco was softer. He softly kissed Mallory's lips as he removed her pants, he softly looked her in the eyes before he entered her, and didn't rush a single moment. Neither one of them were virgins but having sex with someone for the first time regardless if it's your personal first time is special.

When it was all over she fell asleep in his arms feeling satisfied and genuinely happy. She could tell that this was going to be a lot more than a partnership and that it was going to last long past the completion of his cabinet.

It was just about midnight when Mallory woke up to the sound of Draco working on the cabinet. She put on a pair of boxers and a tee shirt he left her on the bed and went over to him. He was deep in concentration.

"Ah, you're up. Good. As much as I enjoy sleeping away hour upon hour with you we're in this place with a purpose. Or at least I am." He said the second part quietly.

"Your purpose is my purpose. How have you been testing the functionality of the cabinet?"

"With notes, mostly. When I have a higher success rate I'm going to test it with a pair of birds I took from the seventh floor."

"You want to transport living things through the cabinets? That's possible?"

"We're going to make it possible."

Mallory was taken aback by the determination in his voice. She couldn't even begin to imagine what this all was for. If he was sending notes back and forth that means there was someone on the other side…and he wanted it to be able to transfer living things…it just didn't make sense. If Snape knew about what was going on then it couldn't be against school rules, and if it was then Draco got a pass because a professor was in on it. But if it wasn't against the rules, why was it so secret? Mallory decided that thinking about it too much would just drive her insane. It was best to help her friend.- er, boyfriend? (Probably best to not worry about that too much either).

The two ended up spending most of the next 2 months in that room. Mallory would do both hers and Draco's homework to keep them from failing out while Draco would wave his wand for hours while reciting spells he was learning from the books he took from the library. Occasionally Snape would come and check Draco's progress. When that would happen Mallory would have to make a quick exit to not cause any problems. Snape knew that Mallory had some type of involvement in the project, but Draco would never tell him that she was there as much as he was.

Draco and Mallory's romantic relationship also progressed during the few months. She tried to spend at least 4 nights a week in her dorm to not cause suspicion amongst her roomates, but even that wasn't enough. The nights she didn't spend in Draco's arms were restless ones. They occasionally took a night off to go on some sort of date, even if it was just to the great hall, and it didn't take long for most of the school to figure out that they were dating. Draco kept to his word and was faithful. He was actually a really great boyfriend when he was able to divert his focus from the cabinet.

As June progressed so did his anxiety.

"Draco, what happens at the end of June?" Mallory asked one day as she sat on the couch working on both of their final papers for divination.

"This cabinet has a 100% success rate."

"Are you worried? The first bird died. We only have this one left and-"

"You don't think I know that? Of course I'm worried. But I have one more trick up my sleeve. I really think I have it."

"I think you have it too." She said, smiling at him. "And then, the school year will end and we can finally focus on more important things. Like each other." She draped her arms around him from behind.

"Yeah…I can't wait."

"Draco is something wrong? Whenever I talk about being done with this cabinet you get tense and quiet. Will the room of requirement stop working for us when we don't need it for the cabinet anymore?"

"I don't know. Depends on how much we require it." He said devilishly.

She smiled. "Sometimes I think we need it really bad."

"How bad?" He said turning around and grabbing her by the waist.

She laughed and kissed him.

"I don't know if I would have been able to do this without you." He said.

"You're capable of anything. I'm sure of it."

"Let's hope you're right."

It was June 1st when the second bird came back alive. Mallory wasn't in the room with Draco, she had to go to class. When she got into the room of requirement Draco greeting her with a huge smile and an even huger kiss. That night, Draco was the most enthusiastic lover. For the first time Mallory didn't feel like she was his escape from his troubles, she was an accessory to his joy. She couldn't be happier to see him so happy. The rest of the month was mostly check ups and extra tests of the cabinet's abilities. Draco's schedule had pretty much freed up entirely. This not only made for more time as a couple, but it made more time for Mallory to spend sleeping in her actual dorm room and seeing her friends. She actually felt like a normal student again with a normal boyfriend and a normal schedule. Looking back at it now, that was one of the best month's of Mallory's life.

Mallory very much looked forward to the middle of the month. Final exams were finished and the students were left with some free time to be with friends before school was officially over. Mallory was spending a much needed girls night with Verity and Bethany.

"I can't believe you and Draco have been together for so long and you never told us. I can't believe I didn't see it…" said Bethany.

"Well, I didn't want you guys to get overprotective, especially because I was spending so many nights out of the dorm."

"Well we would have been! You spent more than half of the week in his room with him, that's crazy!"

"We were in the honeymoon phase, we needed to spend time together. I know of his reputation and I didn't want you guys to worry. I've apologized like a hundred times, can't you guys forgive me?" Mallory put on a puppy dog face.

"Of course we forgive you, we get it." She looked over to Bethany and then back to Mallory. "…but we have been a bit worried about you lately." Said Verity

Mallory sighed.

"…You've been sick these past few days-"

Mallory cut her off, "Don't worry, I haven't missed any of my final exams I've only not felt well in…the mornings." Mallory slowed down to a realization. She's only been sick in the mornings. It couldn't be…morning sickness…the idea hadn't ever crossed her mind until now.

"I think she just started thinking what we've been thinking" Verity said to Bethany.

"What time is it? Is the infirmary open?" asked Mallory.

"Half past nine, it closes for emergency only at 6." Answered Bethany.

"I won't be able to sleep until I get there."

Verity started to put her shoes on, "Perhaps Madame Pomfrey can make an exception? If they're not busy. And we hurry."

"Let's hurry then." Mallory was suddenly in a panic. Whatever was happening with that cabinet was happening at the end of the school year. The last day was ten days away and she hadn't spoken to Draco about it in a while. She wanted to be there for him, whatever this was. She didn't want to break some huge news on him right now. She didn't want to have huge news for him right now.

As the three girls entered the infirmary Mallory realized that it was a totally new part of the castle for her. She hated taking medicine of ay sort and used only pain relievers when necessary. This was much more Bethany's place, who was sick twice a month at least. Mallory's fear must have been evident because Bethany offered to talk to the nurse while Verity sat down and comforted her.

Bethany emerged from the large infirmary doors not a minute later, "C'mon guys, Madame Pomfrey is the only one here, it's not busy in the slightest."

Verity and Mallory proceeded with caution. Madame Pomfrey laid Mallory on a bed and waved her wand around her while asking several questions.

"When was your last period?"

"Uhm, a few months ago actually, but I've been under a lot of stress…"

Verity and Bethany looked at each other, confused. For all they knew the past few months were some of the happiest and most relaxed because of all Mallory's time spent with Draco.

"And your sexual activity?"

"Uhm..existant?"

"May I ask who the father is?" She said softly.

Mallory shot up out of the bed, "Father of what?"

Verity and Bethany rushed to Mallory's side.

"Your baby, dear. You're only about a month in, maybe less. You started having morning sickness quite early for a half blood, usually doesn't start until week six, but this isn't completely uncommon. I'd say that if you need some time to take in this news you definitely have it. But please come back to me before the school year ends, I won't see you again until September, and you're definitely going to need medical care by then."

Mallory was too shocked to speak. She just sat there, on the bed, looking at her stomach.

"I think that's probably best, we'll get her to you in the next few days, thank you so much Madam Pomfrey." Bethany responded.

"Not a problem, girls. I'm here for you honey." She said placing her hand on Mallory's shoulder.

Mallory nodded.

The girls went back to their dorm, Mallory still speechless. They sat her down and gave her a cup of tea in bed. Both Verity and Bethany went on and on about Mallory's options and that they wouldn't leave her side if she didn't want them to, but all Mallory wanted was Draco. That was the first thing she was able to say since the infirmary.

"Draco."

She said it lightly at first, so lightly that the girls didn't hear her over their chatter, so she said it louder.

"DRACO." Mallory shouted.

Both girls stopped and turned to her.

"Are you going to tell Draco?" Verity asked. "Maybe that should wait, we don't know how he'll react. We should be prepared."

"I just…need to see him. I don't know if I'll tell him"

"Will you be able to be with him and keep the secret?" Asked Bethany

"If I can't then it wasn't meant to be a secret, but I have to go talk to him. It's important."

With that Mallory quickly left the room. She assumed she looked at disheveled as she felt, in sweatpants with her hair falling down her back in messy curls and little to no makeup. But it wasn't her pregnancy that she wanted to tell Draco about, it was the cabinet. She really had no clue what its' deal was. She tried not to think about it. Perhaps he communicated to his family with it, or it was some project that Snape had asked him to do, or maybe it was just a gift, father's day was only a few days away, that would make a lot of sense, Draco was always trying to please his father. That must have been it. But why hide it from Mallory? She had never met Draco's father… Whatever it was Mallory couldn't stand the secrets between the two. And now they both had a secret that needed to be shared.

It took Draco a minute or so to open the door. His eyes were red and puffy and Mallory knew he was crying. Was it possible that he knew? She didn't want to point it out and upset him, but it was very odd to see Draco completely break down.

"Uh, hey babe, uh, I'm sorry I was changing when you knocked." He didn't sound convincing.

"It's…It's alright. Uh, listen I have to talk to you. This relationship is really doing well and I can't help but feel there's one thing that's keeping it from being perfect."

Draco looked up from his chair and sat down next to Mallory on the bed. "Yeah?"

"You've been keeping this cabinet thing a secret since we started dating and I've been alright with that but it's really starting to bother me now that it's nearly the end of June and you said that the end of June will bring answers. I just don't know why it can't be the middle of June so we can end this school year on a high note with nothing between us."

Draco sighed heavily and raised his arms above his head. It was then that his sleeve rolled down and Mallory noticed something on his left forearm. Before he was able to react she grabbed his arm and pulled it down. She tried to roll up his sleeve all the way but he recoiled. She looked up at him and his eyes were wide with fear.

"What are you doing?" He asked far too quickly.

"Draco…what's going on?" Mallory scooted away from him on the bed.

"I…please don't be frightened."

"Draco I just…I need to know what's going on. I'm scared. That isn't…you didn't…"

"I just need you to trust me the last time and do as I say-"

"ENOUGH with the 'trust me', Draco. All I do is trust you and all you give in return is secrets and lies and I really just need to know the full upfront 100% truth from you and I need it now."

"AND I NEED YOU TO LIVE." He shouted so loud the walls rattled.

Mallory jumped at the sound and was now standing, not knowing what to say.

She collected herself and brought her voice to a whisper, "Why wouldn't I live, Draco?"

"Something dark is going to happen at Hogwarts and I have to be at the center of it. If I'm at the center, so are you. Unless I get you out of here as soon as possible, tomorrow would be ideal really."

"Get me out of here? Where? You're sending me back home to live with my muggle mother? It's miserable there, Draco, I don't want to go back there a day sooner than I have to, I mean, I love my mum but there's no magic there, you can't even imagine-"

Draco put his finger to her lips. "No, it's not safe there, I was thinking my house. We have spare bedrooms, actually I'd prefer you stay in my room, it's very well protected. Nowhere is going to be safe…"

"Draco. You still haven't explained much of anything, including your arm."

Mallory wouldn't say what she was thinking because she couldn't see any reason for Draco to join the death eaters, but there wasn't much denying it at this point.

Tears fell down Draco's cheeks and he let out a sob. Mallory was scared, but she loved Draco and wasn't sure how to react at this point. She put her hands on his cheeks and he looked up at her.

His words came out in shakes, "I did..what I had to do. He said he'd kill me…kill everyone I loved…My parents..You. So I used the necklace from Borgin & Burkes."

"You did curse Katie Bell…Potter was right." Around Christmas time a girl named Katie Bell had been cursed after being sent a necklace. Mallory didn't see it but she heard it was horrifying. She's okay now but they were never able to find out who did it. Potter swore up and down it was Draco, but there was no proof and everyone pretty much assumed it was just Potter's hatred for Draco that was making him blame him. Especially after Potter attacked Draco in the boy's bathroom and nearly killed him.

"It was an accident!" Draco was crying even harder.

Mallory shushed him, "Keep going, Draco." She needed the whole truth before she told him anything.

"The cabinet. I had to make sure living things could use it because it's how they're getting in here. He wants Dumbledore dead. The necklace was my last chance at minimum harm coming to anyone…and I failed. So…at the end of the month…there's going to be an attack from the inside."

Draco closed his eyes, as if he could no longer take what he was saying. Mallory was glad because her face was one of horror.

Draco continued, "I'm at the middle of it because I'm the one he wants to do it. I have to kill him…" He took a moment to sob again. "They only gave me this today." He said, pulling up his sleeve to reveal the writhing mark surrounded by red skin on his arm. "I didn't want it. But I didn't have a choice. I never had a choice."

At first Mallory was angry. Her boyfriend had become a monster. But then she took in how hurt he was. He was really crying. She put herself in his shoes and tried to imagine being told that everyone she loves will die if she doesn't do exactly what the most dangerous man in the world says. Of course she would, comply. So many have tried to fight Voldemort, and Harry Potter has been the only one to every survive, and look where he is now, the dark lord's number one target.

Mallory pulled Draco in and just held him as he cried. He cried for a long time. He was only human, and could on take so much. Mallory didn't say anything until he calmed down, she was still taking it all in. Mallory completely expected to be the one crying that night, oh how she was wrong.

When Draco quieted down she loosened her hug a bit and turned to his ear, "You are the bravest man I know for keeping the all inside of you for all this time. I love you. I will do whatever you think is best for me as long as it is also best for you. I want to be here for you as long as possible. I want you to be as safe as possible. I will not judge you for what you have to do. I understand."

He buried her face into her collarbone. "You are the most incredible human being that I have ever met. I love everything about you and all I want you to be is safe and with me forever. Before you blood status was a deal breaker in a girl for me. Now you could be a squib or even a complete muggle. I don't care. You're the one for me. I love you beautiful long red hair, and your bright blue eyes, your kindness, your ability to make me want to get up in the morning, I just love everything about you. I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you safe. All I've wanted throughout all of this was for you to not hate me. No matter what I have to do I'll do it if it means keeping you safe with me, okay? I'm going to protect you."

Mallory had never realized how she needed to be protected. In any other situation she would take offense to that, fighting to prove that she can take care of herself. But this was scary. Scarier than anything she could imagine in her nightmares. This was actual life or death, and she was extremely thankful to have Draco there for her.

Now Mallory was crying as they continued to hold each other. She didn't want to leave Draco for a second and despite everything he had just told her she was still afraid to share her secret, perhaps even more afraid. The last thing Draco needed was more stress.

She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes, "I know that it's my job to make you happy right now, you're going through so much…"

"It's not your job, just having you with me makes me happy enough. But I have a feeling you too have a secret. Am I right?" he asked.

"You would be right. I understand that going to your house will be the best thing for me because it's safe there, but I can't go alone. Or, I can go alone but I need someone who can be there for me…because I'm…pregnant."

Mallory was worried that Draco would pass out or break down again, but he didn't. He looked determined and stronger than Mallory had ever seen him. "We have a large wait staff at the manor, even nurses and doctors in addition to the servants that you'll see regularly. We have house elves and humans. It will be ten times the care you'll get in this dingy old castle. I'll see to it."

"You're not mad?"

"Mallory." He grabbed both of her hands. "How could I be angry? This isn't something you've done, it's something we've done. This just makes me want you to be safer sooner. You have to listen to me when I ask you to leave by tomorrow. For both of your safety."

Mallory's hands immediately went to her stomach. "Will you help me? I can't do this alone. When will I see you again?"

He kissed her forehead. "I'll send an owl to my mother now. We can use the cabinet, it's easiest. I'll go with you, but I have to come back quickly. June 30th. June 30th is the day and then I'll be home. No harm will come to me. This is the beginning of a new age and we're on the winning side."

That made Mallory's stomach turn. She was on the winning side. The dark side. She never imagined this.

"Stay with me tonight and tomorrow we'll get you packed and ready to go."

Draco saw the fear in Mallory's eyes.

"Everything's going to be okay. We are going to be okay."

Neither one of them got much rest that night. Draco's mother sent back a letter almost immediately saying that she was more than willing to help Mallory. They stayed up late discussing what it would be like living in Malfoy Manor. Draco explained that her blood status must be kept a secret. Voldemory had only talked about punishing muggle borns, but it was best to be safe. Once the muggle borns were taken care of, half-bloods would more than likely be next. They were of a lower status. Luckily, Craven was not a completely uncommon name in the magical world and she would be able to attach herself to a "clean" blood status family easily. Voldemort was present in the manor, and if at any point she heard he was there she was to stay in her bedroom until he was gone. She would be staying in Draco's room which had a bathroom attached so there wasn't much reason to leave the room at all. The Malfoys would be in and out of the manor a lot and even though Mrs. Malfoy agreed to help Mallory, she wouldn't be able to be around as much as Draco knew she would have liked. He swore up and down that she really was a sweet woman. Mallory believed him. It would only be 9 days until Draco would return. His house was the meeting spot after Dumbledore was killed. This day was more important than any other for Mallory to stay in her room. Death Eaters would be all over the manor. For her safety Draco didn't want her involved at all.

Draco tried over and over to calm Mallory down enough so that she could get some rest, but as the sun rose Mallory was just drifting off.

The two woke in the mid afternoon unready for their final hours together. Mallory insisted that they lay in bed together for over an hour just breathing each other in. Draco reminded her that it would only be nine days. He seemed confident in the fact that he would be fine, but it didn't help Mallory from imagining the news that he didn't survive his mission. That he had died instead of Dumbledore. She couldn't bear the thought.

After she showered Mallory went to collect her things. Verity and Bethany were nowhere to be found. She knew that they'd be worried about her but what would she tell them? It was probably for the best that she disappeared. It would all make sense soon anyways. By the time the news got around about Dumbledore and Draco the girls would figure out that Mallory knew and that she had to get away, especially with the baby. It broke her heart, but perhaps they would be able to stay in touch by letter. After all the dust settled, of course. She rolled her trunk to the common room where she met a depressed looking Draco. He took her trunk from her and led her out the door for what Mallory realized may very well be the last time.

When they got into the room of requirement, Mallory stared down the cabinet intensely.

"Will you come with me?" She asked Draco.

"I'll be right behind you."

"Where will it bring me exactly?"

"The top floor of Borgin & Burkes. My mother will be right on the other side."

She turned and kissed him with so much force it nearly knocked him down. She realized that they didn't do enough kissing the night prior and that once on the other side kissing would be odd with his mother right there. He returned her sentiment, but they both knew that they had to get going.

Mallory stepped in first, holding on to Draco's hand for as long as she could. He smiled and closed the door to the cabinet in front of her. She was inside for just a second as he raised his wand outside and recited an incantation. Much like floo powder Mallory experienced a rush of colors and a tickle in the pit of her stomach. And then, she again faced the inside of a cabinet. She opened the door to see a woman with bleach blonde hair beneath a dark brown layer and worried brown eyes.

"Here she is!" She said excitedly, although she looked more concerned than excited. "Now we wait for my son."

A moment later there was a bang in the cabinet and out came Draco wheeling Mallory's trunk.

"Darling!" Narcissa said excitedly pulling in Draco for a hug. She kissed his cheek several times before letting him go. Draco looked embaressed.

After seeing her son Narcissa seemed much more at ease. "How are you feeling, darling. Did the cabinet upset your stomach? I brought some crackers if you need them. They always helped me when I was pregnant with Draco."

"Oh, no ma'am I'm fine, it wasn't too different from the floo network, nothing like apparition." Mallory didn't realize that Draco had told his mother about the baby, but she was glad that he did. Saved her the embarrassment of being there.

"Call me Narcissa. Ma'am is much to formal."

"Of course." Mallory smiled. Draco's mother was extremely pleasant. Mallory was feeling pretty lucky.

"Come along, darlings, let's get home before Draco has to run off again. I'd like to have a little family dinner if we can."

Mallory wondered if that mean Lucius too. Lucius the Death Eater. Not the Draco kind of Death Eater, but the real one. Suddenly, Mallory realized that she just might need those crackers.

Malfoy Manor was like nothing Mallory had ever seen. Even if she did feel comfortable exploring, it would take days to go through all of it. Compared to the 2 bedroom flat above a pizza place that she grew up in with her mom, this was a palace. Neither Narcissa nor Draco acted like it though. As they walked in she apologized for the mess even though Mallory was pretty sure the floors were actually sparkling. As a house elf took her trunk Draco grabbed her hand and led her up an elaborate staircase.

"Go check on dinner, mum, I'm going to show Mallory around a bit."

"Of course, darling." She responded sweetly, although Mallory could tell she was slightly hurt that he didn't want to spend the time he had with her.

The two went up the stairs and through several hallways to get to a pair of mahogany double doors. Mallory was certain that she'd never find her way back. Draco opened the doors to reveal an even more lavish version of his dorm room. The whole thing was carpeted white and in the center there was a gigantic four post California king bed with emerald green sheets similar to his at school. He had a seating area with lush couches and table by the window, an enormous bookshelf filled with books, a walk in closet that easily had enough room for herclothes in addition to Draco's, and a bathroom off to the side. It was really a lot to take in.

"So what's the verdict?" Asked Draco. "I had some muggle things brought in so you would feel more at home." He grabbed a remote off the bed and a huge flat screen emerged from the wall across from the bed. "I genuinely have no idea how to use this, but as long as there aren't too many wizards here causing magical interference it should work alright. I also put some muggle classics on the book shelf. I just want you to be comfortable."

"Draco, I'm pregnant, not dying." Mallory was surprised at her own openness. She had never said it out loud before. Draco looked uncomfortable. She put her hand on his arm. "It's more than perfect."

He smiled, "Perhaps we should wash up and change? We have to have this dinner my- for my mum really and then…well then I have to go." He looked down as he said it. Mallory hugged him tight. She couldn't imagine how he was feeling. Guilty for leaving her, scared for what he had to do in just a few days, worried about basically being alone at school until then…

"It's going to be okay." She said as she hugged him again. "Let's shower."

"Let's?" he asked with a smirk.

Mallory giggled and kissed him. It felt nice to laugh.

Mallory had never been impressed by a bathroom before, but this bathroom surpassed any she had seen in her entire life. It was huge and spotless. The whole thing was a hexagon and it had a big fluffy rug in the middle, a shower with a giant showerhead, a bench, and a dry changing area built in, and a bath tub that was more like a huge Jacuzzi. A sky light lit the room and Mallory honestly couldn't wait to bathe.

"Are those jets?" She asked. "Forget the shower, I'm opting for the bath."

He laughed, "Wait! I have to make it romantic, we're about to endure the longest separation we've had since we started dating."  
"9 days, Draco. Not weeks."

"Hush, let me do what I do best."

"And that would be…?"  
"Romance." As he said the word and waved his wand, the room dimmed and even though it was daylight the skylight showed a sky full of stars. Candles floated around the room and romantic music played from what seemed the walls. A glass of champagne sat beside the bath as it began to fill. Mallory had to admit, Draco really did know romance.

"Bravo, Mr. Malfoy. I am impressed."

He grabbed her waist and spun her around to meet his face.

"Of course you are."

As they began to kiss a tear fell down Mallory's cheek. She joked with Draco to try to ease his pain but of course she didn't like the idea of not seeing him for 9 days. And although she would never say it out loud, she knew that those 9 days could really be forever…if things didn't go according to plan.

"This is all going to be over in 9 days." He said as he wiped away her tear.

She smiled halfheartedly, "Hey, it's my job to be optimistic."

They sat together in the bath for what felt like ages but was really a little over a half hour. They sipped champagne and despite the fact that a family of 5 could comfortably enjoy the soothing jets pushing around the bubbles, the two sat as close together as possible. Mallory wasn't sure if Draco would want to have sex or what but once they were both cuddling and relaxed in the water it didn't feel like a time for lust and passion. They were both sad but also happy to be with each other.

As they began to get changed for dinner all the comfort they had built up in the bath together slipped away. All the fear of the future came rushing back and hit Mallory like a ton of bricks. Starting with that night.

"Draco, who's going to be at this dinner?"

"Well…I don't know. Ideally it would be us and my mother, but it would make sense for my father to come. There's always the possibility of my aunt. She's in and out of here all the time."

"Your aunt?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange."

Mallory gasped, "Draco, I don't think I can do this. I'm nervous enough about the next few days. You told me to stay in the room as much as possible. Going down there would be a terrible idea. I know you're related to these people, but they're dangerous and…" Her voice lowered to a whisper, "I'm a half blood. And I know that you're okay with that but your family won't be. It's a bad idea for me to go down there."

"I would never let anything happen to you."

"What if you can't help it."

"Yes, but you're not some random houseguest, you're my girlfriend. My pregnant girlfriend. They're not like my mother-"

"That's what I'm worried about."

"What I mean by that is if they're there it will be a mostly silent dinner. Small talk. Casual conversation. You won't have to say more than a few words. I promise you it's going to be okay."

Mallory sighed and grasped on to Draco's hand. She was wearing a dress that was in the closet for her along with an abundance of clothes that she didn't bring herself. Narcissa must have picked them out for her. Her kindness for a girl she'd never met continued to surprise Mallory. The two made their way down two hallways when Draco shouted in pain.

"Draco, what is it?"

He let go of her hand and backed against a wall. He ripped off his jacket and pulled up his sleeve. The dark mark on his forearm moved violently on his skin. Mallory didn't forget about it, in fact she saw it in the bath and noticed it looking much more healed. But seeing it move around like it was, well, it was nothing short of horrifying. He looked up at her and through clenched teeth was able to get out "Get to the room. Stay there." Then, with a light 'pop' he was gone. Apparated to wherever he was being called to.

Mallory stood there in the hall for a few moments. Draco was gone. Called to some dark meeting with the other death eaters. Mallory was really alone. He probably wouldn't be coming back until Dumbledore was dead. And then what? Mallory was scared. She felt flushed and woozy. She made it back to Draco's room, locked the door behind her, and threw herself onto the bed. It still smelled like him. She didn't even get to say goodbye.

She broke into tears as a house elf appeared, "Miss, can I get you anything?"

She sniffed. "Not now. Please go."

With a nod and a 'pop' he was gone too. Mallory stood up off the bed and changed into a pair of Draco's sweatpants and one of his tee shirts. It was day one of solitude. She was glad she slept uneasily the night before. At least she would be able to sleep away the next several hours that were to come.

The next few days were miserable. The only other human Mallory saw was her nurse who checked in each morning. The first morning she ran some tests to make sure that Mallory and the baby were healthy and every following morning she just stopped in to make sure that Mallory was getting a healthy breakfast and taking her vitamins. She suggested Mallory walk the grounds and get some air but Mallory wasn't going to chance getting into any trouble. She started reading some books and watched a bit of tv but the majority of her time was spent sleeping the days away to hopefully make July come sooner when this would all be over.

The morning of June 30th Mallory woke up earlier than ever. The sun was just starting to rise. She cracked the bedroom door open for the first time in 9 days to see if she could hear any movement throughout the house. Of course, she couldn't, she was the only person occupying that wing of the house and the downstairs rooms were so far away, a party could go on down there and Mallory wouldn't hear a thing. She tried to go back to sleep, ideally she would wake up 24 hours later to Draco sleeping next to her, but her body wouldn't let her. She simply wasn't tired anymore.

She turned on the tv for background noise and went to shower. She got undressed and examined her body. It was so strange imagining that in a few months it would be sticking out with a real child inside. With all the stress because of Draco she hadn't really been able to focus on her pregnancy. She was glad that she figured it out early on, it gave her a lot of time to prepare before it became obvious.

Thinking about the baby turned into thinking about Verity and Bethany. That was the last time she spoke to them, when they went with her to the infirmary. It was only a little over a week ago, but it felt like so much longer. She hoped that they weren't too worried, and that they'd stay safe tonight. She should have told them something, even if it was just to get out of the school, but she didn't want to get in the way of Draco's plans. If she did that she could lose her life. That made her a bad friend, and she knew it, but she was protecting two lives now. This realization made Mallory start to cry. She got into the shower to stop the tears, but it only got worse. How was she supposed to take care of a baby when she couldn't even go home. She couldn't see her mom. She had no idea what was to come. Voldemort wasn't going to stop at Dumbledore, he wanted Harry Potter dead, he wanted to rule the magical world. If that happened, there would be nowhere safe to raise this baby. Was Mallory being selfish by listening to Draco? Was Mallory evil? She did help Draco with the tool that would bring Death Eaters to Hogwarts. She could have ran off and told Dumbledore as soon as Draco told her, but instead she chose the route that would get her far away from the whole situation, leaving everyone to fend for themselves. She always told herself that she was the side of Slytherin that no one ever saw, the side that uses their cunningness and leadership skills for good. But that wasn't who she was being now. She felt horrible. But who was she to save the world? She wasn't Potter. He may be the person Draco hated the most in the world, but it was then that Mallory decided that she was definitely rooting for him. No matter what Draco wanted.

She emerged from the bathroom feeling worse than when she woke up. The sun was up and out, it actually looked like a lovely day. At about 9 a house elf brought her breakfast and her vitamins. Her nurse didn't stop in like every other day. Draco said this might happen, his father had spoken of giving the help the day off at one of Voldemort's meetings to make home base's secrets safe. All of the crying in the shower made Mallory's eyes heavy, and she was able to fall asleep after a few bites of eggs. She woke around noon, upset to see that it was still light out. She flipped through the channels of the fancy television Draco had installed for her and was able to be distracted by a few movies. She ate the lunch the elves delivered in front of the television and before she knew it she was getting served dinner. The sun had set and her stomach was full of butterflies.

She was able to pass an hour with just pacing around the room. At about 6pm the television stopped working, meaning there was too much magic in the house for muggle electronics to function. This only made Mallory more nervous. She flipped through books and tried to sleep over and over again but nothing was helping. She tried to talk with house elves, not only to keep her busy but to find out what was happening downstairs. But all they could say was that there was a meeting happening downstairs and that the masters of the house instructed them not to speak. They seemed terrified. At 8pm Mallory instructed a house elf to bring her a cup of tea and sleeping pills. Draco had told her that the plan wasn't taking action until late at night and she couldn't take 15 more minutes of constant worrying, never mind a few more hours. The pills started to taking effect almost immediately.

Mallory woke up to the sound of her shower running. It was still dark out, but looked like early morning. She quickly sat up only to dizzily lay back down. She had apparently taken some very strong sleeping pills. As she regained focus of the spinning room, the shower turned off. It took a moment, but one she was able to stand up she rushed the the bathroom door and pushed it open. There stood a damp, startled looking Draco in a towel.

"Draco!" Mallory shouted as she ran to him. She hugged him tighter than she ever had before. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"You looked so comfortable and happy. I was going to just lay down next to you but I was kind of sweaty and gross so I thought I'd shower first."

"Please come lay with me."

Draco put on a pair of boxers and wrapped himself around Mallory. She felt so small in his arms wearing nothing but his tee shirt and underwear. Small, but safe. Finally. He breathed into her air, and she for the first time since he left she was able to relax. They stayed just like that for a while until Mallory had to ask, "Draco, did everything go according to plan?"

He sighed, "I didn't kill him. I couldn't."

Mallory breathed in deep. This made her very happy, it wasn't because she was particularly close to Dumbledore, but because she didn't want Draco to be a murderer.

Draco continued, "But Snape did. And now everyone's going to think that I wasn't brave enough to do it. And I don't know what's going to happen now. Everyone got back here and no one could look at me. And the dark lord just started talking of the next phase. He wants to start a war. He was speaking of a wand or something. I went to sit in on the meeting but my mother held me back as my father went into the meeting room so I have no idea what's going to happen but I know it's going to be bad and I'm worried for us because I just want to keep us safe. I know I let down my father tonight, I just want this to be over."

Somewhere in Draco's rant he started crying. Mallory turned over and hugged him. As she laid her head on his chest she started to cry too.

"You are not a coward, Draco Malfoy. You let no one down. If it weren't for you, no one would have been able to get into that school. You were the core of this plan. You may not have finished it out, but the deed was done. That's what The Dark Lord cares about. Whatever comes next, we will handle it. Together. You've been through so much. Please, for me, relax."

Draco did relax, for a while. Neither Mallory nor Draco left his room for the next week. With Draco, it was a lot easier, but she was starting to feel like she was going to spend the rest of her life in that room. She was going stir crazy and needed to get out.

It was the beginning of the second week of September when Draco's dark mark burned for the first time since Dumbledore's death. He was gone for a few hours, and when he returned he looked extremely distraught.

"What happened?" asked Mallory as soon as he returned.

"He's…he's going to stage an attack while Potter's at a wedding at the end of next month. After that…he's…he's cracking down on blood status. Getting rid of all the none pure witches and wizards. Starting a new, pure magical world. Ruled by him." He looked up at Mallory with wild eyes. "There's going to be a war."

This was exactly what Mallory feared.

"Draco, we have to go."

"I can't go anywhere. I have to stay with my family. If I leave them I'll be cast out. A traitor. Like my aunt Andromeda."

"Is that really so bad? Your mother will come around, she loves you. And then you never have to deal with the stress of this mess ever again."

Draco looked angry, "You seriously want me to abandon my family at a time like this?"

"Draco, you almost became a murderer for them, you're going to be put in that position again if you stay. They love you, they'll get it."

"No. Absolutely not. I'll set you up somewhere. Somewhere far away. Somewhere safe."

"So you'll leave me alone? What about my mother? She's my family."

"I have to stay with my family to keep them safe and you need to stay away from yours for the same reason."

"What about this family?" Mallory asked, pointing to her stomach, "Or did you forget? I left everything at Hogwarts because of you. Can you stop and think for a moment?"

"I _AM_ thinking, Mallory. I'm thinking about you being discovered as a half-blood and being killed with our child still inside of you. What are you thinking about?" He was breathing heavily.

"I'm thinking about being without you for Merlin knows how long. I barely lasted nine days alone, now I have to go an entire war?"

"If it keeps you alive, yes. I'll visit when I can. Stay weeks if I'm able to. But if my mark burns I need to go. You have to understand that."

Mallory began to cry hysterically. "Please. Please. Find another way. Please don't leave me."

Draco looked drained. "It has to be done. I'll start looking at places tomorrow morning. I'll get help from my mom."

Mallory was still crying. "No. I want to stay. I'll stay here. I'll even fight if I have to. I'll follow your mother's footsteps. She's always there for your father-"

"You can't fight while bearing a child and The Dark Lord isn't going to have a random half-blood fighting for him, do you hear yourself? It's hard enough for a pure blood wizard to gain an ounce of his trust. I'm tired of this, if you want to live, you will do as I say. There is no other way. Accept it."

Mallory sat down on the bed and sniffled, "Why are you being so cruel?"

"I'm being realistic and handling this the best I can."

"Well can you stop? Because you're not helping. This isn't the Draco I fell in love with."

Draco looked at Mallory, his eyes were sad and tired. He walked over to her, sat on the bed, and held both of her hands.

"I don't know how this is going to work." He said, "but I love you. I don't care about your blood status, but right now, it could get you killed. So we're going to make it work. For as long as you love me, we will make this work."

Mallory was still crying. She fell into him and just cried. They fell asleep like that, with her pressed into his body and his arms wrapped around her. She woke up to him kissing her forehead and the loss of his warmth in bed. He was off to find her a safe house. Even though she was incapable of feeling safe without him near.

Draco returned that afternoon with a smile on his face.

"I've got it! I have figured it out?"  
"Am I still being sent to live in exile?"

"Being sent away, yes. Exile? Not so much."

That didn't make Mallory very happy. "I'm listening"

"I spoke to your friends back at school, Verity and Bethany, and they both agreed that even though they're pure blooded they will each spend the summer living with you until they go back to school."

"You told them?"

"Didn't have to, their parents informed them of the movement. They're not death eaters per say, but there's plenty of supporters that donate funds and other information. Half of the ministry is on The Dark Lord's side. I've known those girls since they were young, they attended the same galas and such that I did. They're good girls, we can trust them."

"Well, I knew that we could trust them, and it's great that I won't be alone all summer, but what about when school starts?"

"I'm making it Verity and Bethany's mission to handle that. I know you had some mixed blood friends in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff that may need a safehouse. Maybe this doesn't just have to be you, Mallory. Loving you has made me realize that this blood purity bullshit that I've been fed my whole life is, well, bullshit. I've found a really lovely place in a foresty area that is perfect. I've protected it with loads of spells and, well, I think we should make it a proper safe house. I'll still visit whenever I can and you'll have plenty of people to be with when I'm not there. And when this is all over and my family doesn't need my help anymore, I'll be able to give 100% to you. Even if The Dark Lord wins, I will move to a deserted area with you. He'll never find us."

"You would do that for me? Move away from magic, I mean."

"Of course. I love you."

Mallory stood up and kissed Draco, "I can work with this. Thank you. I love you."

Draco looked relieved, "Shall we start gathering your things?"

"Or we could take a bath while the house elves gather my things?"

He smirked, "I like the way you think."

Despite the possibility of Draco leaving for an extended period of time at any moment, this night wasn't as sad as the night before his 9 day long absence. As long as Draco wasn't needed in the next few days, the two were promised alone time in a house all their own. Not only that, but Mallory was finally going to be able to get fresh air.

The house elves had packed all of Mallory's belongings and ten days worth of Draco's. He told his parents that he was taking time to reflect on the past months. Well, he told his mother, his father was still upset with him. Mallory didn't understand why Draco needed his father's approval so badly, but the fact that Draco didn't complete the task as planned meant that his family wasn't exactly back in The Dark Lord's good graces. This haunted Draco. Mallory tried once to explain that it wasn't his job to fix his father's mistakes but Draco snapped at her and she didn't bring it up again.

They used the fire place to floo to the house Draco had purchased because apparation wasn't safe for the baby. Once Draco returned to his home he planned to close the connection to the safe house's fireplace so that no one could infiltrate it. He would have to apparate nearby and walk to it.

When Mallory opened her eyes and stepped out of the fireplace she found herself in a surprisingly modern atmosphere. It wasn't what she had expected at all, really. When she heard 'safe house' she imagined a dusty old cottage somewhere out of sight. But she was in a large room with a wall windows facing a beautiful green forest. The room she was in was fully furnished with couches, a television, and a table that all made for a large, comfortable living room. When she heard Draco stumble out behind her she was excited to explore the rest of her new home. She went up a few steps and was in a large kitchen with a large dining room table that would easily sit twelve. There was a basement area that had several doors and a large bathroom. Behind each door was a decent sized bedroom with a full sized bed, a large dresser, and a comfy looking chair. It was nothing extravagant, but for a free safe house and a private room it was pretty great. The second level held a meeting room with all glass walls, two more bedrooms that were a bit larger than the ones downstairs due to their larger beds and views of the forest, and the master bedroom which entailed a private bathroom, a seating area with couches, and a walk in closet, all very similar to Draco's room. It was really beautiful with the view of forest for miles off of the balcony and from the windows which were artistically placed on each wall.

Mallory was really impressed. "Should I feel bad that this room is like ten times more beautiful than the ones downstairs? Because I don't and I think I should."

"Absolutely not." Draco responded. I found this place for you. It's catered to you. You may even notice that you missed a door over there." He pointed to a door near the seating area.

Mallory opened the door to find an empty room with a large bay window and a closet. "What's this for?" Mallory asked.

"This is the baby's room. I haven't decorated it at all because I figured that would be something that you would want to do, but I can have anything brought in for you, you just say the word."

Now Mallory was _really_ impressed. "Draco, I…I can't believe I was fighting you about coming here.

Draco laughed with relief. Mallory felt how tense he was as she examined the house. He really wanted to make her happy.

"But I do have one question, and it's a good one."

"What's that?" Draco got tense again.

"There are a lot of windows and walls made of windows and open forest area out there. If someone wanted to get in here wouldn't it be incredibly easy? This is, after all, supposed to be a safe house…"

"You underestimate my abilities!" said Draco excitedly, "I've spent hours walking circles around this place. There's a brook a quarter mile east of here, uh, that's out the front door and forward, that shouldn't be crossed. Other than that you can walk a mile in any direction and you're safe from everything and anything you could think of. I've put so many spells on the area I think I've lost count. You can't smell, hear, or see a think coming from the area. Anyone who gets too close will get confused and reroute themselves subconsciously. I'm so confidant that you will be safe here. I wouldn't leave you if I weren't."

Mallory felt a wave of relief rush over her. "Who knew Draco Malfoy could be so perfect?"

He kissed her and Mallory waited for him to cringe in pain because of his mark and run off. It just seemed like her luck. But he didn't. In fact, the two were able to spend more than ten days together. It wasn't until 3 weeks after their arrival that Draco was called back. He knew it was going to happen soon because the death eaters had discussed the invasion of a Weasley Wedding at the end of August, and they needed to prepare.

Mallory was drinking tea on the porch when he came rushing upstairs to her.

He looked ashamed and upset, he held out his left arm and without saying anything kissed Mallory hard on the mouth for as long as he could before the pain of his arm started to become unbearable.

"Darling, you'll be fine, I'll send your friends immediately. I love you. I love you. I love you. I'll try to contact you whenever possible. I'll be back."

Mallory was about to cry but wanted to hold it together until Draco was gone. "I love you more. Please be safe. I- we need you." She put a hand on her stomach.

Draco gave her a sad grin. "I will be."

She was about 11 weeks in, no physical signs of pregnancy yet. Draco had the nurse at the manor give him several books, notes, and vitamins on how to handle pregnancy without any nearby medical help and her morning sickness was almost completely gone, but still, Mallory wanted her baby's father to be there. She hoped Verity and Bethany would be good at comforting her. She didn't want to worry Draco about it too much but any moment she was able to get the war out of her mind she was thinking about the looming reality of becoming a mother. The stress never stopped.

At this moment, her stress was on her boyfriend who she was following to the fireplace. He turned to her one last time before he stepped in.

He put one hand on her stomach and one on her cheek. The one on her stomach was twitching as he obviously fought to keep his face from showing how much pain his arm was casuing him. "Stay strong."

With that, they kissed one last time and he disappeared into the fire place with a green flame.

Mallory was suddenly very tired, a symptom of the pregnancy, or so her books said. She went up to the master bedroom to take a nap, but when she saw that Draco had left just about everything except his wand, her tiredness was overtaken by sadness. She got in bed and didn't feel comfortable, she just missed his warmth. This would be the first night in that bed without him. She hated feeling dependent on him, but she wasn't in any state to be independent.

Mallory decided that a walk down to the brook may help, since that was her favorite part of the safe house. As she put on shoes she heard a "pop!" from downstairs. It was the undeniable sound of someone apparating, which was impossible because Draco promised her he had set up enchantments against that. Mallory gripped her wand and headed down the stairs with caution. She peered around the wall between the stairs and the living room to find a small house elf.

"Miss! Hello! Miss Craven! Yes! I am at your service, sent by Sir Draco Malfoy." The house elf bowed in Mallory's direction.

It was just like Draco to send Mallory a slave for the house. Mallory never liked the idea of house elves and how they would literally do anything their master said, including suicide. But she did understand the importance to them to have a purpose, and she wasn't about to set this one out to fight against the world on her own."

Mallory put on a smile for the nervous elf, "Why hello there, what may I ask is your name?"

"Well, Miss, I suppose since I am yours now, you name me what you please."

"Oh, no, I don't like that, just tell me what you were called at your last place of service."

That was a command, apparently, and hearing a command from her master the elf snapped into focus and in a robotic voice said, "I was formerly named Peony, ma'am."

"Oh! That's a lovely name, like the flower. Okay, Peony, well here's the deal. I know House Elves enjoy their service but I can't take having others follow my orders without being able to say no. So I have something for you."

Mallory walked over to the kitchen and picked up an apron from the counter and put it on Peony. "Now I have given you clothing. You are a free elf, right?"

Peony looked shocked, "Why, yes. Yes Miss Craven."

"Okay, good. Now, if you would so kindly like to help me out here I would be grateful. But if you wish to leave then feel free. I only want your service if you wish to give it. And in return you'll have a home, food, and protection."

"Why…I would like that very much, Miss Craven."

"Oh, good! Okay, well I don't think I need anything from you now-"

Mallory was interrupted by a female voice in the living room.

"Hold that thought, Peony."

Mallory rushed to the living room and excitedly shouted, "YES! FINALLY!"

Standing there, in a bit of fireplace ash, was Bethany with two large suitcases.

"In the flesh!" exclaimed Bethany. "I already had my bags mostly packed and headed over as soon as I got your baby daddy's owl."

Mallory raised an eyebrow, Bethany was never one to hold back what she was thinking.

Bethany looked Mallory up and down, "Well, the good thing is, you're not fat yet. The bad thing is, I brought all this Tequila and it looks like I'm the only one who can get drunk."

Just then Peony popped in and took Bethany's bags. "I assume these go upstairs, miss?"  
"Yes." Mallory answered. "In one of the larger bedrooms."

"Who's this little thing? I like her! Can she drink?" asked Bethany

Peony popped upstairs with the bags.

"She can if she wants I gave her free reign of her life."

"Atta girl, you've always been a bit of a humanitarian. So. Let me fill you in on…well, I guess everything you've missed in the past month."

"House Elves aren't human and…it's only been a month? It's actually felt like forever. I need to fill _you_ in."

"No! No! Me first! I can't even wait, Dumbledore was killed!"

"You are so far behind, Bethany. You don't even know."

The next hour or so was spent discussing what both girls have been through. Draco gave Mallory permission to tell the whole truth but she left out a lot about Draco's doubts throughout the process, his failed attempts, and the shame he felt now for letting Snape kill Dumbledore. She wanted to shed a light on him, after all, he was – as Bethany put it – her baby daddy. Bethany knew all the main points about Dumbeldore being killed and about Voldemort wanting to start a war, but Mallory was able to give her an insiders perspective. And Bethany was able to tell Mallory all about the students of Hogwarts. This is information that not even Draco had because the Death Eaters didn't really care.

Luckily no one was hurt the night the Death Eaters broke in, but there has been a lot of talk of not going back to Hogwarts. Dumbledore was a beacon of hope and with him dead it was almost certain that Death Eaters would be ruling Hogwarts. Snape was announced the new headmaster, meaning that dark wizards were ruling the ministry or he would have been arrested; non purebloods felt unsafe.

That's why it was so easy for Bethany to find recruits for the safe house.

That was really the big question on Mallory's mind, who would be staying with them, but she didn't want to sound like she wasn't interested in the state of the world. Once the girls were finished swapping information Mallory was more than ready to know who Bethany had asked to come.

"So, knowing you, you asked all of the party goers to stay with us and this place is going to be a mad house every night. True or true?"

"You think so little of me! I'm not going to turn your house upside down every night when you're trying to put your baby to bed!"

"You seem really focused on this baby. Let's live in the now."

"I think that's what got you into this situation. Living in the moment. You're acting all calm now, but just wait until you're ready to explode a human."

"You're gross. Let's talk housemates!"

"Well. You know that I've known that The Dark Lord has been planning something big, but none of the people that are coming know exactly how much Draco's been up to. So before we talk about them I need you to promise me to keep that on the down low or we're going to end up with a safe house full of people who don't feel safe."

Knowing that Bethany's parents supported Voldemort was kind of strange, seeing that Bethany wasn't really the serious business type, but it did come in handy when Mallory had to explain that her boyfriend is the reason why Dumbledore was dead. Most people would have freaked out, but Bethany seemed to really understand. Her parents would have done the same thing.

Mallory understood what Bethany was saying. "That makes sense. It's not really my favorite topic of discussion anyway."

"Okay, good. Well I went to the Ravenclaws first, talked to all of your old friends. They're smart. They totally felt something happening and most of them weren't planning on going back to Hogwarts, not even the pure bloods. But they don't need protection so from them I got Pamela Alton, who will be useful to have around in case of an emergency because she's a wicked good dueler, was in the dueling club for ages."

"Sucks that she won't be going back to school though. She was at the top of her class. She's cool though, I've known her since second year, she sat next to be in Defense Against the Dark Arts, we fawned over Lockhart together."

"Oh yes, I remember those days." Bethany laughed. "I also got a response from Phillip Montgomery who is like super cute, how did you never tell me that you used to hang out with him?"

"Phillip's great, but he's totally full of himself."

"He can't be worse than Draco!"

"Okay, okay, who else?"

"The only other Ravenclaw is Miranda Flockton."

"Oh, cool. She's quiet, but snarky. I think you'll like her. How many other people did you ask?"

"Only the people Draco told me you used to be friends with. So like, 8? Out of that two or three of them were pure bloods and the others that said no already had plans for their family. You have to understand that in addition to saving their own arses these people are leaving their families and they don't know when they'll see them again."

"Yeah, I get that. I've had to deal with that myself. I sent a letter to my mother saying that it would be unsafe for me to return home because of stuff happening in the wizarding world. Which is totally true, but it still sucks. She thinks I'm staying at school. I wasn't going to worry her."

"Does she know about the baby?"  
"Again with the baby! No, she doesn't. But I'm still barely pregnant."

"You're more then 2 months in, that's more than a little, Mallory."  
"Shh, who else is coming?"

"I know you were friendly with Hannah Abbott, but after her parents were killed by death eaters she hasn't been at school, so I went to her roommates Susan Bones and Megan Jones. Susan was so gung-ho on fighting for the cause and all that- she was in that army of Potter's when they revolted against Umbridge or whatever-"

"Stop, I thought that was inspiring."

"You so would! How were you put into Slytherin? You're such a Ravenclaw."

"I don't know, ask the sorting hat. What about Megan?"

"She said that she's in, but then went off and told Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchly about it."

"No! Not Justin!" Mallory had a few classes with Justin over the years and although he meant well he was such a follower that it bugged Mallory to no end. He would believe anything, like a child. She remembered him running around the school their second year exclaiming that Potter was the heir of Slytherin before he even spoke Parseltongue. When you looked at the evidence, it wasn't very likely. He was an idiot.

"I know, I know. Ernie wanted in because he thought Hannah was coming, they were totally a thing at one point, I swear. But he's a pureblood, he would just be taking up space, so I explained it to him and he seemed really bummed until he found out Hannah wasn't to be there, then he was over it. And when I told Justin that he wouldn't be able to come and go whenever he wanted he didn't want to come anymore either because he wanted to fight with Potter even though he's a mudblood. Stupid, I know, but he's a follower, and he's chosen to follow Potter."

"Well, I'm thankful for that."

"The list Draco gave me of Hufflepuffs that you hung out with was short."

"There weren't many that could hold an intellectual conversation."

"But I wasn't going to send over four people, Draco said that there were a bunch of rooms and he could add more if needed. I wanted at least like 7 and then me and you."

"What about Verity?"

"She couldn't convince her parents she was going on holiday with me, they want to keep her home this summer to advance in her studies, or whatever. She said if she can't pop in over summer she will definitely find a way to make it for winter break.

Mallory was bummed but understood. Her parents were perfectionists and worked for the ministry. They would want Verity to be a perfect dueller to keep her safe from what they knew was to come. "And you're only here for a month, right? Because of school."  
"Verity is pretty much set on going back, but I have my doubts. School wasn't always for me anyway, and I don't trust these people to help you take care of a child."

"You'd help me with the baby?"  
"It's my job, I'm one of your best friends."

"That's sweet. I'm assuming this means that you didn't ask any Gryffindors or Slytherins?"  
"Honestly, Draco and I couldn't think of a single Gryffindor to ask and neither one of us trusted any Slytherins to keep the safe house safe. But I didn't stop there! I told you I wanted more than four people. I was up one night trying to figure out the mystery and then I remembered you telling me about your Yule Ball experience with your date, Tom Hiddleston! He's a cutie too, and so sweet. He seemed excited to come, most of the Hufflepuffs were excited to be a part of something. I asked him if he knew anyone else who could use a safehouse and he sent me to Stuart Mckinley and Michael Frimley who were both actually tolerable Hufflepuffs. They're both mudbloods, like Tom, but they're not dumb-"

Mallory interrupted, "Muggle borns aren't dumb, Bethany. They're just like everyone else."

"Well…yeah, I guess. It's just how I was raised."

"I get that, that's why I don't stop you every time you call them mudbloods. But be careful with that when they're here. They're going to be our friends."

"Yeah yeah yeah, well that's the last of the group. What do you think?"

"I think it's a solid group. I don't know Michael, Stuart, or Megan that well, but everyone else will be pretty good. I'm glad you thought of Tom, he's really a sweetheart and will help me out a lot with the whole pregnancy thing.

"Any juicy stories about the Yule Ball with him?" Bethany was such a gossiper.

Mallory smiled, "Actually the night of my Yule Ball was spent with Draco, have I never told you that story?"

Bethany looked shocked, "Hold on! Let me get more tequila for this!"

A week went by with just Bethany. Bethany wasn't sure when everyone was going to show up, but she told them when she would be coming and asked for everyone to be moved in by the third week of August, plenty of time before the Death Eaters planned to make their next attack. That gave them two weeks to show up.

Mallory really enjoyed having Bethany's company, she had a way of making it feel like they were back in school just fooling around. She also began to get the feeling that Bethany wasn't going to leave when Verity came to switch places with her.

It was the first Sunday of August when Mallory and Bethany got their first housemate. They were both sitting in the living room watching television and eating junk food when there was a knock at the door. Both girls looked a little worried.

"Peony, can you get that?"

The little house elf scurried to the front door in her apron, "Miss Craven? It's a man named Thomas and he says he's staying here. Shall I let him in?"

"Oh! Yes! It's our first housemate!" Mallory popped off of the couch and ran to the door."

"It's so good to see you, Tom! You look great!" He really did. Mallory hadn't said much to Tom since she became friends with Bethany and Verity. They no longer were in the same circle. He was taller than she remembered, and no longer kept his curls bouncing all over but had them gelled back. He even had a bit of stubble. Despite his physical appearance, his friendliness didn't seem to change at all.

Tom was never a handshake man, he hugged Mallory tight and actually lifted her off of the ground, "Thank you, love! And you're absolutely glowing! It means so much that you're letting me stay here, there's already talk of a muggle-born registration. They want to round us up and imprison us for stealing magic. It's truly awful…" He paused and looked down to the ground.

"That's awful, Tom, are your parents safe?"  
"I didn't give them too many details, but they're muggles, they won't run into trouble. Bethany! It's so good to see you again!" He ran to Bethany and gave her a similar hug to Mallory's except Bethany looked horrified.

She patted his back, "You too, big guy. Now let me down before I hurt you."

Tom laughed.

"Where should I put Sir Tom's bags, Miss Craven?"  
Mallory turned to realize that Peony was struggling to hold up Tom's bags.

"Oh, no no, I've got it." Said Tom as he ran to retrieve his bags.

"I'll show him, Peony, thank you."

Despite the averageness of Tom's room, he wouldn't stop thanking Mallory.

"Tom, really, it's nothing."

"Nothing? It's everything! The room is great, better than great. Any other place holding so many people would have us sleeping on cots. This is like hotel! No, better, it's free! A free hotel!"

"Tom, you're too kind."

Tom went on about his room until Mallory pretended like she wasn't feeling well as an excuse to leave him to pack. When she got to the main floor she found Bethany talking to a girl with long blue/black hair and chic black rimmed glasses. Mallory recognized the girl as Miranda Flockton. They used to be in the same social circle when Mallory was friends with the Ravenclaws. They were never close, but they were friends. Miranda was usually very quiet unless she was really passionate about a topic, but she seemed to be holding a conversation with Bethany.

"Oh, hey Mallory, is Tom all good? You were down there for a while." Bethany said when she saw Mallory standing at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah, he's unpacking. Do you want me to show you to your room, Miranda? You can unpack and then we can all have dinner and catch up."

"I can show her." Answered Bethany. "You were just down there."

Mallory was surprised, but it seemed that Bethany had made a friend. As they headed downstairs there was another knock at the door. Peony ran to answer it. Standing there were two boys, both fairly tall with average builds, one with short, dirty blonde hair and one with a mess of curly black hair and glasses.

Peony greeted them, "Miss, Sir Stuart and Sir Michael."

"Oh, yes! Hi, I'm Mallory. You're both friends with Tom, right? He's downstairs unpacking. I didn't expect so many people in one day!"

"Nice to meet you." The Blonde one said as he shook Mallory's hand. "Tom told Michael and I when he was coming so we figured we'd just come the same day as him. We hope it's not too much at once."

"Oh, not at all!" Said Mallory as she shook Michael's hand. I'm glad to get everyone settles. Peony will show you downstairs where you can pick your rooms. Bethany, who you've met, is downstairs helping in another newcomer, Miranda. Take your time unpacking and when you're done we can all get together for dinner."

"Sounds like a plan." Stuart said with a smile.

Both boys were pretty adorable. Something told Mallory that Bethany may have had ulterior motives when asking these boys to stay.

When Peony returned from downstairs Mallory had her start preparing dinner. At first, she was a bit uncomfortable having a house elf do all this work for her for free, but she had to admit, she was pretty great to have around. And it made Mallory feel better knowing that Peony had the ability to leave whenever she wanted.

Everyone regrouped about an hour later to enjoy the shrimp scampi that Peony had prepared. The table looked much fuller with six people, and Mallory was excited to learn about how everyone was handling their current situation. Stuart and Michael were very similar. Both were quidditch players at Hogwarts and didn't have to worry about their parents because they were muggles. They seemed sweet but a bit dopey, it seemed to come with the jock persona they had. Bethany was right when she said that they weren't your typical Hufflepuffs. They weren't shy or desperate for a leader like most Hufflepuffs, these two were loud and pretty hilarious. They kept the table laughing with jokes all throughout dinner.

Miranda stayed quiet most of the night but did explain that her half-blood father had plans to keep him and her muggle mother safe and was glad that she had found somewhere where she too would be safe. Mallory caught her looking at Michael several times during dinner, it was interesting because Miranda never seemed interested in anyone but herself and her books. It made Mallory miss Draco. The table was actually full of attractive blokes, but Mallory couldn't have been less interested.

When it was time to explain her situation, Mallory left it at that she was dating Draco Malfoy (the table was a bit taken aback and needed a lot of reassurance that he was indeed not evil, everyone seemed to know that he had some sort of involvement with Dumbledore in addition to his obvious ties to his father) and that he had handled everything the house needed including all of the protection. She explained that his motives were to keep her safe and that they were all there because she wanted to be able to share the comfort of protection. By the end of dinner they all seemed pretty comfortable, which was good because she was quite worried about releasing the Draco information. If she could have, she would have kept his involvement hidden, but she was really hoping he would come to visit soon and she wasn't going to keep him locked in her room in a house he had paid for.

After dinner Peony cleaned the dishes, with the help of Tom who insisted that he helped, and everyone else retired to the living room. Miranda had never seen television in person, since she grew up in a magical community and was very fascinated with it. Bethany was the same when she first arrived, and they bonded over the excitement of all of the different shows they could watch. Stuart and Michael were immediately attracted to the foosball table against the wall of the room that Mallory had never touched, leaving Tom and Mallory to chat.

Tom was really interested in Mallory's life, which made the conversation difficult for her because she had to glaze over so much about Draco. Regardless, it was nice to talk to Tom. He had a way of really focusing on the conversation he was having. He put all other thoughts aside and paid attention to every detail of Mallory's words. She hadn't been able to talk to someone like that in a very long time.

"So, let's discuss your pregnancy."

"Oh, Bethany told you?"

"Yes, she did mention something about how that this can't be a wild party every night because there will be a child in the house, but you don't look very pregnant to me."

"She said no partying? That doesn't sound like Bethany."

They both laughed.

"Well, I'm only 12 weeks in, but yeah, I have a lot of books from my former nurse, but other than that I'm on my own throughout this."

"You're not on your own at all! I can't speak for everyone else, but I'm 100% here for you. I was actually planning on working at 's after school. I worked in the infirmary three times a week and have done a good amount of studying in herbology and potions – if you need anything I can absolutely help."

"Well, actually, I do have one request that only a nurse could fulfill, but I'm not sure how wizards do this. I'm used to muggle pregnancies."

"Let me take a guess, you want to know the sex of the baby?"

"So so much." Mallory had been thinking about it a lot. It bothered her to no end that she was going to have to wait for the birth of the baby in February to find out its gender."

"I can have that information to you in 5 weeks. 17 weeks is when the baby is progressed enough to tell. Like I said, I'm your new in-house nurse. I got this."

Mallory was glad to have Tom as a housemate from the start, she knew he would overall be a great help. But she was now more grateful than ever. With him around her pregnancy would be much easier.

The following weekend brought the remaining members of the house. Pamela and Phillip, being friends prior, came together. They were both very full of themselves, as many Ravenclaws were, but they were also both very smart. They didn't really click with Stuart and Michael because neither could hold an intelligent conversation about politics or science, but they gave Miranda someone she felt more comfortable talking to and other than being a bit stand offish, they were pretty nice.

Megan was the last to arrive. She was the sweetest girl Mallory had ever met and immediately clicked with Tom. They both helped clean the dishes at night and set the table for breakfast in the mornings. They spent a good amount of time gardening and really brightened up a house and everyone in it.

Once a week of everyone being settled passed, Mallory could confidently say that she was happy with everyone who was staying at the house. There were definitely groups or pairs of people that preferred one another's company to others, but there had been no fights and everyone seemed happy. Mallory wished she too could be happy, but honestly she missed Draco too much. Often she sat on the balcony looking for a sign of a visitor, but she hadn't seen anything yet. She knew that the odds of Draco visiting before the attack on the Weasley wedding were slim, but she never lost hope.

Bethany and Tom helped Mallory get her mind off of Draco. Many nights when Mallory couldn't sleep one of them would come into Mallory's room and play board games, watch television, or just talk. The two wouldn't normally be friends but their care for Mallory seemed to bring them together. They both seemed more excited than Mallory for week 17 when they would know the gender and be able to start setting up the baby's room. This would be another thing to really get Mallory's mind off of Draco, and she was really looking forward to it.

It was the last day of August when Mallory heard a knock on the door. She ran to it so fast that she nearly stepped on Peony. She opened it with excitement, almost sure it was Draco, to meet the face of Verity.

Verity's face lit up and she let out a shriek, "I'M HERE! Oh my goodness you look great. You have a belly! I can't believe it." Verity dropped her bags and leaned over to push on Mallory's stomach.

"Barely." Mallory responded. "I look bloated. Like I ate a bit too much. Aren't you supposed to be going back to school tomorrow? When you didn't show up in this past month, I assumed you'd come over winter break."

"When do we find out if it's a boy or girl? Have you decorated the room yet? Is Bethany still here? Probably not, she was always early to get her books and everything together. I am going back, I have to, but I came to try and convince you to come back too. I'm all packed, we can leave from here. I can help you get everything and-" she was rambling

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. I don't think Bethany plans on leaving just yet. She seems to be enjoying herself quite a bit."

Mallory nodded to Bethany who was trying to understand how to work the foosball table with the help of Stuart and Michael.

"Oh. Interesting." Said Verity.

"And I'm most definitely not abandoning this house. It's not safe out there-"

"Who's this?" Verity interrupted, pointing to Peony.

"That's Peony she'll show you to your room upstairs and then we can talk."

Verity left and Mallory went over to Bethany at the foosball table.

"Do I look pregnant yet?" Mallory was feeling a bit self-conscious now.

"Not unless you're wearing like I tight tank top, why?"

"Verity just showed up and said I had a belly, she was acting kind of weird…"

"She has to go back to school tomorrow. Why would she come here?"

"She said she came to get me to go back. And you too I suppose. I know we haven't discussed it, but it seems pretty obvious that you have no intentions of returning this year."

Bethany nodded. "She's been out there for an entire month with no one to talk to but her family and the people who pass through her house. She's probably not crazy about a house full of impure blood after having her head filled with nonstop propaganda."

"I told her that we'd talk. Is she okay to have in the house?" Mallory didn't want the safe house to become unsafe.

"She wouldn't do anything to hurt us, let's go ask what the world's like."

The girls went upstairs to find Verity with her wand out moving clothes all about the room. Mallory walked in but had to jump back to avoid a pair of jeans that zoomed past her head.

"Uh, Verity, can we talk to you for a minute."

Verity moved the last of the clothes into a drawer and sat down on the bed.

"Sure, I've missed you guys. I was just unpacking my clothes so they don't wrinkle overnight."

"We've missed you too." Said Bethany. "That's some powerful magic you had going there. You were moving all of you stuff in different directions at once. Impressive."

"Thanks, I've been taking extra lessons, my parents want me to be prepared for the war. If I end up having to fight."

"Fight for Voldemort?" Mallory asked.

"I wouldn't say his name for much longer. They're putting a hex on it. When it's said it's going to attract snatchers. And yes, I'd fight for The Dark Lord. I wouldn't turn on my parents."

Bethany looked uncomfortable. She may be faced with the same issue soon. Fight with her parents or for what she feels is right. Unless she stayed in hiding.

"I'm sorry, snatchers?" asked Mallory

"The Dark Lord's lackeys, they're going to go out and round up mudbloods for the muggle-born registration commission. They're not all going to come on their own free will, although it would be smart…"

"That's exactly why we wanted to talk." Said Bethany. "We were wondering what's happening out there. It hasn't been that long since we got an update but we know that you know more than everyone else since your parents work for the ministry."

"Have you heard of the muggle-born registration commission?"

The girls nodded.

"Okay and now you know about snatchers. That's about it. A war will only start if there are people like Potter who plan to fight against The Dark Lord's side. But all of us are being realistic, we know that there will be plenty of them. Harry Potter may be dumb and bold but he;s strong and has a lot of followers. It's not going to be easy to take them down. We're expecting a lot of bloodshed. All pure bloods and half bloods absolutely have to go to Hogwarts. Anyone unaccounted for will be assumed an ally of Potter and will be treated as such- uh, sorry Mallory."

"No offense, you're just the messenger." Mallory hoped that's all she was.

"Hogwarts will be the only safe place for those who don't plan on being in an army. Other than places like this."

"You sound pretty decided on where you stand with all of this. If you're so firmly on Volde- uh, The Dark Lord's side, why did you come here?" Bethany didn't waste any time.

Verity looked hurt, "Well, I wanted to see you two, especially Mallory, she won't be at school in September, unless she changed her mind, The Dark Lord isn't targeting half-bloods."

"Yet." Answered Mallory sharply.

"No, I don't think he will." Defended Verity. "What he's saying makes sense, mudbloods, how did they get their power? Like…they had to steal it, two muggles can't make magic. It just doesn't make sense."

"You sound like you've been brainwashed, Verity, that's ridiculous. Kids start discovering their powers when they're toddlers. Toddlers can't steal magic from people. How would that even be done?" Mallory was upset with who her friend had become.

"Well maybe their parents did it, or maybe they pretended to find out they had powers as a young child but really took it and snuck into the system!"

"All of them?" asked Bethany skeptically.

"Listen, you're not even supposed to be here, Bethany. When I came, you were going to leave. Then I was planning on talking some sense into Mallory and hopefully getting her back to school and you would see the world for what it is right now and then you'd get where I'm coming from."

"Verity, The Dark Lord wants a pure blood world. That's what he's fighting for. He doesn't want to put justice to stolen magic, he's not a good guy, he's the_ DARK _lord." Bethany was visibly angry

"I get that he goes about it the wrong way, but he has the right ideas." Verity wasn't budging.

"Okay, I had the idea to come talk to you to rest any worries about feeling uncomfortable with you here but now I feel uncomfortable having a Voldemort sympathizer in the house. I don't see you staying here working out and I think Mallory agrees."

Mallory was impressed with Bethany. A month ago she was using the term mudblood and now she was telling her best friend to leave if she was going to side with Voldemort.

"Mallory's boyfriend is an actual Death Eater, I think you've got things a bit twisted. Besides, I'm only staying for the night. We_ all_ have school tomorrow."

"Please lower you voice." Mallory interjected. "No one here knows that. And while he may be a Death Eater, he's just protecting his family. He doesn't actually believe all of Voldemort's bullshit. You do. How can we trust you to keep a house full of muggle-borns secret when he wants you to report them?"

"Well, when you decide to go to school and Bethany sees what I'm talking about first hand we can bring them to the commission and we'll all get a nice sized reward!"

Mallory had tears in her eyes. She took a deep breath and spoke very calmly to not cause a rise in Verity, "It's dark now, and I know it's a bit of a walk to the safe apparation point, but first thing in the morning, you pack up, and you leave. You didn't come here to see me, you came here to brainwash me and put all of these people in danger by exposing their blood status. I can't have you visiting here. Don't come back over break. Don't try to contact us here. This isn't a place for you. And we're NOT going back to school with you. It may be safe for people like you, for _his _followers. But we are not you, will not let him rule us."

Verity looked hurt, Bethany looked satisfied. The three girls stood in silence.

"I'll just leave now then-"

"Don't be stupid." Mallory put her arm out in front of Verity. "There are wild animals out there. I still love you, and I know you think you mean well, but this isn't the place for your propaganda and I can't trust you living here. Stay the night. Then go."

Bethany took hold of Mallory's arm and led her out of the room, closing the door behind them. Mallory began to cry. They went to Mallory's room and sat down on a couch.

"You don't need to cry, Mallory, you did what you had to so that this house was protected."

"No, I know." Mallory sniffled. "It's just, we're going to have to erase this place from her memory. She's going to tell on us eventually, I know it, and she can't remember where we are."

"So we erase the past day, I know Pamela can do that for us, she's top with her spells."

"No, she knew of it's location since the day Draco told you guys. We have to go all the way back to when she found out I was pregnant. She's going to lose so much…"

"Well, she's a right bitch and deserves it. Seriously. Don't cry. I'll stupefy her, Pamela will get rid of the memories, and Stuart and Michael will carry her to the apparation spot with her bags. Then we'll go back over the line so she can't see us and make sure she wakes up and apparates back. You don't have to do anymore."

Mallory felt relieved. "You're seriously the best. I think I'm going to go to bed early, make sure Peony saves me some leftovers from dinner?"

"Sure, goodnight." Bethany hugged Mallory and left her to her thoughts.

The stress of what she just had to really tired her out. She tried to go to sleep, but when she was in bed all alone was when she really started to think about Draco. The last time she saw him she was only 11 weeks pregnant and at the end of this week she would know the gender of their baby. She had no way of contacting him so that he could even try to be there for her. She just hoped that he thought about her too. She would do anything to have him with her.

That night she fell asleep crying. And woke up to the sound of her stomach rumbling at 4am. She checked in on Verity's room to find it empty, as was Bethany's room. They must be off getting rid of Verity. Mallory's heart felt heavy. She then went downstairs to the kitchen to eat some leftovers. When she got downstairs she found the refrigerator open with someone already in it.

"Good morning?" she whispered, trying not to startle whoever it was.

Tom jumped and dropped the cup of water he was holding. "Oh, darn! Good morning! You startled me!"

"I'm sorry, let me grab a towel. What are you doing awake at 4am?"

"Thanks, I heard some noise but when I got down here there was no one to be found. I figured I was up so I might as well have a snack. Peanut butter and jelly?" He asked, pulling out the jelly from the fridge.

"No thanks, Peony saved me some leftovers."

"It seems that our quidditch players have taken advantage of the extra good laying around because the chicken from dinner is MIA."

"Awe man, those kids can eat. Looks like it's PB&J. Pass me a knife."

"No need, I'll make them. Have a seat. I heard you had a rough night."

"Yeah, I had to ask Verity to leave and never come back. She wasn't really on our side anymore."

"Oh dear, should I be worried?"

"No, no, that noise you heard was Bethany, Pamela, Stuart, and Michael safely removing her without her memory of this place. We took all precautions."

"Ah, that's still rough. You were close with her."

"The old her, not this brainwashed version."

Mallory sighed heavily to try to stop the tears that were forming.

"I think I have something that will make you feel better." Said Tom as he passed Mallory her sandwich.

"I'm feeling pretty down, whatever it is, I'm in."

"Well, I know I said 17 weeks, but that's muggle time, which is what I'm used to.

Wizards can find out gender at about 14,15 weeks. I just figured since I'm not licensed we should wait to not get your hopes up, but I've been doing a lot of reading on magical pre-natal care and I think I may be able to tell you the gender of the baby now."

"Seriously?" Mallory nearly choked on her sandwich. "Let's do it!"

So that morning, before the sun even came up, Mallory and Tom went up to her room to discover the sec of her baby. It was a simple process, really. She laid on her back with her stomach exposed and he waved his want over it reciting some kind of spell. If blue mist came out of the wand it was a boy, if it was pink it was a girl. Mallory took a deep breath as Tom began. He said it may take a few minutes. He went back and forth for what felt like forever but was really about 3 minutes when the wand began to produce a blue mist.

"A boy!" he exclaimed.

Mallory started to cry and sat up to hug Tom, "A boy".

The next day, Mallory made sure to have everyone at breakfast, even the drowsy Pamela, Bethany, Stuart, and Michael so that she could share the gender with everyone. She started with sharing the information that Verity gave her so that no one would accidentally say The Dark Lord's name. Then, to lighten the mood, she announced the good news. Everyone seemed really happy, Bethany even shed a tear. "Mimosas for everyone! Except the pregnant!" She shouted.

That afternoon Mallory and Tom started working on the baby's room. They started with a coat of blue paint and then looked through a catalog that Draco left for what furniture she should get for the baby. When they made their decisions she was to tap her wand on a box at the end of the catalog and it would appear in the room in the next 24 hours. All paid for my Draco. He may not have been around, but he was doing a great deal. Mallory often forgot that everything in that house down to the juice in the fridge was from Draco. That was pretty amazing.

From the day they found out the baby was going to be a boy Mallory began to grow rapidly. By 18 weeks she was much more obviously pregnant and she was hungry. She felt like a baby herself, all she really did was sleep and eat. When she was able to stay awake for a few hours they were spent with Tom working on the baby's room. It was pretty perfect with baby blue walls with pale yellow stars all over them, a dark blue carpet, and light tan furniture. This baby would have everything it could ever need. The most comfortable crib Mallory had ever seen, a changing table, a rocking chair, a dresser full of clothes, books and toys, and even an in bedroom bottle warmer and fridge so Mallory wouldn't have to go downstairs. Only a few more things needed to be put together, and then Mallory just had to fit everything in the perfect place and it would be done.

As the room was being put together Mallory had asked Tom if he would like to move upstairs. It would just be easier since he spent so much time up there anyways, and with Verity no longer needing it he was really Mallory's second closest friend in the house. Of course he told her it wasn't necessary and that it was too lavish for him, but Mallory made him accept. She convinced him that she needed her nurse nearby and that he really deserved a better room.

Mallory was 20 weeks in when everything in the room was perfect. As much as she would have liked to take credit for the perfect looking room, she had to give credit where it was due. Tom did all of the assembling and placement. Mallory just told him what she wanted. He said that she was in no condition to be putting together furniture, and she had to agree that he was right. Mallory felt huge. Tom told her that her baby weighed double what he did when they discovered the sex, and that it would be growing even faster now that she had hit the half way point of her pregnancy. She couldn't believe that it had been that long.

It was nearly October, Mallory's favorite month. It was starting to cool down outside, and it was just nice enough for Mallory to sleep with the windows to her balcony open. Her and Tom had started to take daily walks to keep Mallory moving and less achy. It was also really nice to chat with him. He was still that incredibly nice guy from school, but now with an added touch of charm. She knew he wasn't a replacement for Draco, she still missed him terribly, but she could imagine Tom being somewhat of a stepfather to the baby while they lived in the safe house. He would be happy to do so, too. Mallory couldn't imagine what it would be like around the house without Tom around.

One day, after they returned from one of their walks, Mallory awkwardly made her way upstairs for a nap, she was still getting used to the extra weight in her middle. She had been more exhausted lately, and even though Tom swore it was normal, she felt awful. She crashed in her bed and pulled up the covers only to feel a warm body next to her. She jumped out of bed, as much as a pregnant woman could jump and screamed. And then, from out of her dreams and under her covers, came a mess of blonde hair and those too familiar blue eyes.

"Oh my god, Draco." She fell back into bed and attacked him kisses. Her hands were all over him, his hair, his chest, just feeling him to make sure he was real. He was.

When the initial shock was over he moved back from her and looked down at her belly.

Tears formed in his eyes, "I've missed so much', he whispered.

"But you're here now." She whispered in return.

He held her for over an hour as they caught up on everything. Mallory told him about everyone in the house, about Bethany deciding to stay and Verity doing the opposite. She brought him up to date on the baby, told him the sex and about how Tom helped her with the bedroom. He seemed disappointed in himself for not being there for her throughout everything. But she reassured him that she understood that he couldn't be there. Really, she didn't want to say or do anything that would ruin the time that they had together, it could have been cut short at any moment.

Draco tried to fill Mallory in on the outside world but found that Mallory was pretty informed. What she didn't know was that Draco was called back because they had decided to attack Harry Potter as he left his muggle home. They failed but succeeded in killing Mad-Eye Moody, which was good for them, and injured who they believe a Weasley boy. They were all disguised as Potter, which was clever. That's what ended up saving Potter. Then, a few days later, the attack on the Weasley wedding didn't go well either. The Death Eaters were tired and weren't prepared for so many people. Potter escaped with Ron and Hermione and were attacked as they escaped but they got away and their current location was unknown. The Dark Lord was mad. That's why Draco wasn't able to visit for nearly two months after the wedding thing. The Dark Lord was living at Malfoy Manor and had his Death Eaters under lockdown. Snatchers were in full swing, bringing in muggle-borns and searching for the golden trio, but to no avail. Voldemort had now told his Death Eaters to go out and search for themselves. Hopefully with their additional training they would find the three and this would all be over soon. That's what Draco was believed to be doing now. Searching for Potter. But he chose to visit the safe house instead.

"Even if I did find Potter, I don't completely know that I'd bring him in. Part of me wants him to win. I would never have to serve The Dark Lord again."

"I love you." Mallory kissed him. It was so good to hear that Draco hadn't turned like Verity. Draco wasn't evil. Not even close.

They fell asleep together and slept for an ungodly amount of hours. Still, they woke up before everyone else and helped Peony set the table for breakfast. Mallory prepared herself to introduce everyone to Draco, even though they all were aware that he funded the house and that she was dating him, she hoped they wouldn't protest to him actually being in the house. None of the houseguests were dumb, Lucius Malfoy was a known Death Eater. Not that anyone really had a choice in Draco staying or not, but the safe house was built on trust and safety. Mallory didn't want Draco to compromise either one of those with anyone in the house.

Tom was the first one up. He greeted the couple with a smile.

"Our gracious benefactor! It's good to see you, Draco, are you back at Hogwarts?"

"Uh, no, Ministry worker's kids have some leeway with the school rule. I found myself a job at the ministry and I think I'll just stay there for now. Hogwarts has changed and the schooling isn't as top as it was in prior years."

"Well that's great! Good for you. Congratulations on the job! How long will you be staying for?"

"Hopefully a few weeks, but I'm not positive. How are you liking the place?"

"It's lovely. Really really lovely. Have you seen the baby's room?"

"Not yet, after breakfast I suppose."

Their casual conversation was interrupted by the heavy footsteps of Stuart and Michael coming up the stairs.

"Good morning, boys! We have a visitor!" Said Tom cheerily.

"Hey dude." Said Stuart, as he and Michael shook Draco's hand.

So far, everything was going well.

Next came Pamela and Phillip. Rumour was these two had been sharing a bedroom. Pushed two beds together in one room while the other had their dressers. Bethany had told Mallory this a week or so ago. They still looked quite cozy, so things were presumably good.

"Well this is a surprise." Said Phillip skeptically.

"Nice to see you two." Said Draco. "How are you liking it here?"

"It's fine." Said Pamela. "Better than the outside world, I assume."

"Yeah, nothing seems this beautiful anymore." Said Draco.

The two sat down and began eating cereal.

Megan came upstairs next and cheerily said hello to Draco, much like Tom. She didn't question his presence and out of everyone in the house Mallory had a feeling that she was the only one who had no idea about Draco's family. She was a bit airheaded.

When Miranda came upstairs she didn't say anything to anyone. She just picked up a plate of eggs from Peony and gave Draco a look out of the side of her eye. "Interesting." She said in a low voice and sat down with everyone else.

Bethany didn't come down until everyone was nearly done with Breakfast, but Mallory wasn't worried about her, of course. It seemed that everyone had at least accepted Draco's presence, which relaxed Mallory. When Bethany did come down she excitedly said hello to Draco and started asking him about the world. She had been concerned about her parent's safety but he assured her that there wasn't really any physical battle and that pure-bloods were safe, living life as everything was normal.

Mallory wished that everything could be normal for her too, but it was anything but. Draco wasn't sure when he would have to leave again but Mallory didn't really get the feeling that he wanted to stay. Normally they would be all over each other. But all they had been doing were taking walks to the brook and watching television. One night after dinner Mallory found herself looking in the mirror and crying. She knew that Draco was under a lot of pressure but that didn't seem reason enough for him to not want to be with her. At night when they went to bed all they did was go to bed. They faced opposite directions and slept. Rather than cuddle up next to her when watching television they had inches between them and didn't pay attention to one another at all.

Draco walked into the bathroom while Mallory was inspecting herself. At first he looked a little awkward and confused, unsure of what to do. He slowly approached her and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Why are you upset?" he asked.

"I'm gross. And I know you see it too so don't deny it. You can't even fit your arms around me. You don't even want to…"

"Stop. Your hormones are getting to you. I made you like this, I'm aware of that. I don't think you're gross, this is temporary. I love you."

Mallory nodded at draco as he kissed her forehead, but she was less than satisfied with his attempt to make her feel better.

"I've been really achy lately, I'm going to go talk to Tom."

Mallory left the room, still quietly crying. She felt like she had no one to turn to. Bethany was her best friend, but she wasn't good with emotions. She was the one you went to if you needed to be cheered up, but after you were done crying, because if you went to her showing emotion she shut off and started to awkwardly pat you on the back.

So she went to Tom. She wasn't worried about going to him in an emotional state, because Tom was an emotional guy. He had become one of the closest friends she had ever had in the past months, and she was sure he'd at least try to understand what she was feeling. When he opened his bedroom door to see Mallory crying he immediately pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head.

"Oh, darling. Did Draco have to leave?"

"No." Mallory talked into Tom's Chest. "I think he's fallen out of love with me."

Tom pulled Mallory into his room, closed the door, and put his hands on her shoulders, "You're upset. Things are different between you and Draco. It's an odd situation to be in. But he's risking a lot to come visit this safe house, that he paid for, and it's all for you. He should be off being a pureblood in that pureblood world, but he just wants to be with you. How could you say that's not love?"

"It's just not the same as it was, Tom. He's physically present but not emotionally. I feel like…he's disgusted by me. Look at me! I'm huge. The last time he saw me you couldn't even tell that I was pregnant. Now I'm a house! He saw me crying just before I came to you and all he could say was that he made me like this and that it's temporary. He's not going to love me until this baby is out of me. I'm only half way through my pregnancy, Tom. Is he not going to visit until February?"

Tom hushed Mallory, "You're panicking. Don't panic, it's not good for you. Listen to me, you are incredibly beautiful, even more so with that belly. You're perfect. That little boy in there is a miracle. Pregnancy is a miracle and what your belly says is that you're creating a human being. Perhaps Draco doesn't realize what a remarkable feat that is. And perhaps he doesn't exactly have a way with words. But that's his son in there. I think he may just be in shock right now. Like you said, the last time you were here there barely was a baby. Now there's a room, a belly, a gender. You've been able to take this week-by-week, but for him it was a blink of an eye. Let me make you a cup of tea."

"I'm not supposed to have caffeine."

"If you followed all of the rules those books told you you'd be eating grilled chicken and lettuce every day. Live a little."

Mallory laughed and wiped away her tears, "Well in that case, extra sugar please."

It was quite late when Mallory returned to her room. The tea kept her and Tom up late as they discussed they're favorite books and plans for the future. All of the worries about Draco had left her and had been replaced by the joys of her and Tom's friendship.

Mallory crawled into bed next to Draco and he she pulled herself under the covers he turned and put his arm around her. Maybe it really was all in her head, and her pregnancy hormones were starting to get to her, because at that moment she couldn't have felt more loved.

In the following weeks Draco didn't change much, but Tom kept Mallory in touch with what was really important; She was safe and healthy, as was her baby. Tom started teaching her breathing exercises that wouldn't only help her through birth but also with everyday annoyances. Her hair started to grow in fuller with more bounce as her stomach grew bigger and bigger.

As the leaves started to fall and Halloween came and went, Mallory found herself giving up on trying to appease Draco. It's not that they didn't interact, they still slept together and kissed good morning and good night, but there wasn't much cuddling, showering together, and there was no sex. When Draco first arrived that really bothered Mallory and made her feel more unattractive than she did already, but now she felt less in the mood than ever, and didn't really mind the lack of intimacy.

The intimacy she really craved was Tom. Not that she wanted to cheat on Draco, but she wanted someone who would sit in a room with her for a few hours and just talk, about the baby specifically. It became too chilly to go outside as November crept in, and even though Mallory had at least 12 more weeks to go, all she wanted to do was talk about the baby. Which was great because that was Tom's favorite subject too. Eventually Tom opened up to Mallory more and she learned that he had a 6 year old brother back home. He had no signs of any abilities and it seemed like he was a muggle like his parents, but he missed him very much. He was the reason Tom wanted to become a baby nurse at St. Mungos, because he missed so much of his brother growing up when he was sent to Hogwarts when his brother was a newborn. It was really sweet, actually.

Draco was never very friendly with Tom. In school they were two completely different people and here in the safe house it was apparent that Tom and Mallory had a relationship that Draco and Mallory were never able to achieve. Much of their relationship was lust and romance, taking place during a time of fear and stress. Tom and Mallory had a friendship. With Tom Mallory felt safe, and never had to worry about him taking off and possibly never returning. It was the third week if November, when Mallory was 27 weeks pregnant, that Draco had had enough.

"You know," Draco said as he got dressed for the day, "I'm starting to feel more and more like an old married couple each day."

"Is that so?" Mallory didn't seem interested in what Draco was saying.

"Where's the passion? Where's the fun? I know I've been here for nearly 2 months and all but we can't forget that I could have to go at any time and who know's when I'll be back? And I've been thinking about the holidays. My parents think that I'm off looking for Potter or whatever, off with the likes of Crabbe and Goyle or random snatchers, but I don't think my mother will be okay with me not being home for Christmas."

"That makes sense, so if all goes well we have a little more than a month together."

"And you're not upset that I'm leaving you for Christmas?"

"You'll be back, Draco, the baby isn't due until February. I have all of these people to celebrate with, and if I could be with my mother, I would be. You make perfect sense."

Draco looked hurt that Mallory was being accommodating to him, she was confused.

"There was a time that we couldn't spend 9 days away from each other. Now we live under the same roof and we could go 9 days without talking to one another."

"It took you until mid November to notice a problem Draco, and that's the problem. Things haven't been the same between us since you returned. It's like you saw how huge I was and was no longer interested." Mallory felt tears in her eyes again. "We haven't had sex since you left back in the summer. If you're just staying with me for the sake of the baby, I understand, but let me know so I don't feel so tied down to you."

Draco walked past Mallory and took a seat on the couch. "I just assumed…I mean, I noticed something was different and I definitely noticed that we weren't having sex, but…you feel tied down to me?"

Mallory sat down next to him, "No, not tied down. I just…there was a time when the only thing I cared about was being with you. Laying down next to you in your arms was the happiest place in the world to me. Now, you're not the most important person in my life anymore, our baby is-"

Draco stopped her, "Can you just answer one question for me?"

Mallory nodded.

"Do you still love me?"

"I do! Of course I love you Draco. But when you came back I felt such a disconnect between us, I just figured you didn't feel it anymore, you weren't attracted to me, or the war changed you and I turned by attention to the baby. It's not that I don't love you anymore, it's just I spent so many nights with Tom, crying to him about you. When I had enough, I just had enough."

"I never want to make you cry. I never want you to feel like you have to run to him for help. I still love you just as much as ever, but you have to remember that I'm still a teenage boy, despite all of these adult situations happening to me. How am I supposed to know if you want to have sex while you're pregnant? That belly holds my son, Mallory. It doesn't turn me off. It fills me with more love for you. You have to understand that."

Mallory was ecstatic; this was all she had wanted to hear. She kissed him with the same force she did when they had first met and wanted nothing but one another. At first, things were awkward. She tried to climb on top of him but she felt uncomfortable like that, and then he rolled on top of her, but that wasn't going to work either. They broke the kiss for a moment and moved to the bed where Draco seemed to have an idea. He kissed her again and as she lay down he told her to move onto her side. She listened, this being the most comfortable position for her in general anyways, and he began to spoon her. She turned her head to kiss him, thinking that they were giving up, when she realized that he was going to enter her like that, in a spooning position. The heavy, unattractive feeling immediately lifted away.

Draco looked at her and asked, "Is this okay?"

Mallory nodded and kissed him again. She was the happiest she had been in months. Here she was, able to make love with the love of her life in a comfortable, sexy way while being pregnant.

They weren't quite done, when Mallory noticed a look of pain on Draco's face.

"Draco? What is it?"

He pulled away from her and she sat up and grabbed hold of his left arm. It felt hot, he felt hot, and when she looked at him, his eyes were filled with pain.

"Draco…no. No, not now. Not after we just figured things out…" She started to cry.

He backed away and began to quickly get dressed.

She pulled the sheets of the bed tight to her body and put her head down in defeat.

He came back to her side, fully dressed, and rested his forehead on hers.

"I will be here in February. Without a doubt."

She put her hands on his face and kissed him gently. He stayed there for a moment. With their noses touching, and then he left. He quickly ran from the room and out of the house. He had sealed all exits and had to get to an apparition point. Mallory knew he had little to no time, but it still hurt like hell to lay in her big bed all alone once again.

Mallory barely slept the next few nights. She was incredibly tired, but when it was time for bed her body wouldn't rest. Tom started giving her a tea called 'sleepy time tea' to try and help, but then she ended up waking up every few hours from nightmares. She was having the same dream that it was time to deliver the baby when she got notification that Draco was dead. Death Eaters swarmed the room and took the child from her.

A week with barely any sleep and Mallory was miserable. She was entering her third trimester and Tom was expressing his worries that if she didn't get into a healthier state, the baby was likely to be premature.

Tom started sleeping on the couch in Mallory's room, even though she insisted it wasn't necessary. When she woke with a start in the middle of the night, he would massage her feet and give her some water to calm down again so that she would get a decent night's rest.

This went on for the rest of November; By the end of the first week in December Mallory began to feel happy again. The nightmares stopped, and Tom was able to sleep in his own bed again. Just like before, Mallory was able to focus on the baby. She started spending more time with Bethany discussing baby names and less time alone in her room worrying about Draco. There were still nights when she began to cry because she missed Draco terribly, but Tom helped her get into a better state of mind where she was able to focus on herself. Tom was hoping to deliver on or very close to Valentine's day, making the due date almost exactly three months away. Tom explained that this was crunch time for Mallory to keep up her health both mentally and physically. Since they were delivering in the house, they needed to have the baby be as healthy as possible. Any complications would be more dangerous than ever, they didn't have special equipment like they would at St. Mungo's.

Christmas approached fast and with it came a dark cloud over the house. Peony tried her best to make it feel cheerful, she decorated a tree that the boys chopped down, she baked cookies for the house, and spoke of an elaborate Christmas Eve meal. But regardless, everyone was missing their families. Even Tom was less than cheerful as he read Shakespeare to Mallory and the baby.

"Tom, I love Shakespeare's work, I do. But why are we reading to the baby?"

"I told you! The baby can hear, he needs to hear our voices so he recognizes them when he's born. And the fact that you've never read Coriolanus. It's one of my favorites."

"Great, so we can tell the baby that the first book that he was ever read was a Shakespearian tragedy. Lovely."

"Hush, this is also a great way to pass time, aren't you enjoying it? The only thing I love more than reading is reading aloud, acting the parts."

"I can tell, you're very animated. Okay, go on."

Tom could read on for hours. His voice was mesmerizing and as he spoke, Mallory could feel the baby kick. He definitely could hear everything.

"Okay, Scene III. Are you ready little guy?" Tom was speaking to the baby.

"Tom, I'm here too." Mallory joked.

"Oh, yes, but you're not the one I'm reading for."

They laughed, and Tom began the next scene.

"I know you well, sir, and you know me: your name, I think, is Adrian-"

Mallory's head popped up.

"Wait, Tom, stop."

"Is something wrong? Are you okay?"

"No I'm fine it's just…re read that last line."

Tom looked confused, "I know you well, sir, and you know me: your name, I think, is Adrian?"

Mallory had an epiphany, "I really like that name, Tom."

"Adrian? Are you telling me that you're going to name your son from a Shakespearian play? I mean, it may be a very minor character but, is that what you're saying?"

"That's definitely what I'm saying. I love that name. I love saying it. Adrian."

"You're officially the coolest mom I know! This is so exciting!" Tom pulled her in for a hug.

"In all seriousness though, Tom. You have been more of a help on this journey than anyone in my life. I should name the baby after you."  
"You're too kind. You're doing all of the work, I'm just support. Besides, I don't think Adrian's father would like that name very much. Adrian would forever be mistaken as mine." Tom awkwardly laughed.

Mallory looked sad.

"Hey, don't get sad, we- uh, you just chose a baby name! This is a happy time!"

"No, I am happy. It's just that…if Draco was around this much for the pregnancy. How is he going to be around at all for Adrian's life?"

"The war isn't going to last forever, Mallory. He will be around as much as he can, I know it."

"I wish you were the father. I mean it. I really do. You're going to be an amazing father, Tom."

Tom was at a loss for words. "I…thank you, darling. That's sweet."

He hugged her again, and then Tom went back to reading. But Mallory wasn't as interested as she was before. She was analyzing her own words. She said that she wished Tom was Adrian's father, and she was pretty sure she meant it.

The night of Christmas Eve had arrived and Peony wasn't kidding when she said that she prepared a Christmas Eve feast. The smell of roasting chicken attracted everyone to the kitchen where they found an ungodly amount of food. Everything was perfectly cooked by peony, from rolls to potatoes to pie. It wasn't their families, but it was still incredible. Bethany went straight to the bottle of wine stacked on the counter while Tom rushed to help serve everything. The entire house ate and laughed together until the wee hours of the morning. At which point, everyone was very drunk. Even Tom was stumbling over himself and giggling.

Bethany, Stuart, and Michael were passed out on the couches while Pamela and Phillip were having a loud, drunken debate at the table. Everyone else had seemed to go to sleep except Mallory and Tom. Mallory watched as Tom tried, and failed to make his way up the stairs. He reminded her very much of herself after the Yule Ball.

"Tom, sweetie, you're not making it up those stairs, let me help you."

"No no no no no." He said, trying to whisper but failing miserably, "you're pregnant. It's so late, go to sleep."

She laughed at his stupidity, "C'mon, one arm around my shoulder, okay, you got it."

With one arm around Mallory and one arm still carrying a bottle of wine, the two made it up to Tom's room. When they got there he looked as if he had never seen a bed before.

He threw himself down onto it and then proceeded to tip his bottle of wine and spill the red liquid all over his white sheets.

"Oh, Tom…honey, no…"

Mallory rushed to his side, but he had already hopped up, looking for a towel.

"I'll clean it! I'm sorry!"

Mallory reached for him to slow him down.

"Tom! Calm down! I'll ask Peony to get you new sheets tomorrow. Come into my room. I have the world's largest bed, I can share."

"No no no! That's not appropriate. Where's the couch?"

"Tom, it's nearly daylight. You need to rest. Get into my bed."

"You're pushy when I'm drunk. Don't drink! You're pregnant!"

Mallory humored him, "Good advice! I'll remember that one."

He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Hey, I'm here for you."

She smiled and led him to her bed, "Get in bed, Tom."

He smiled and kissed her firmly on the mouth. She was a bit shocked by his actions, not upset, but shocked. She wasn't sure how she should react; How she wanted to react. Before she had time to respond, he pulled away with a face of pure shock.

"Oh no! I didn't mean to do that!" He started to leave the room, but she pulled him by the wrist.

"Tom. Go to bed."

"I'm sorry!"

She pushed him onto her bed and got in on the other side.

"Shh, you're fine. You're really drunk. We can talk in the morning."

She waited for his response, but all she got in return were light snores. He didn't even make it under the covers. The odds of him remembering the night were slim to none, maybe that was for the best.

Tom almost slept all of the daylight away. It was nearly 4pm when Mallory decided that he needed to wake up. She shoved 2 ibuprofen and a tall glass of water in his face.

"Tom! Wake up! Drink." She pushed the water at him.

"I'm never drinking again."

Mallory laughed, "That wouldn't be a terrible idea."

Tom seemed to be clueless about the night before. Mallory filled him in with all of the necessary details. She wasn't sure if he was acting clueless for the sake of their friendship or if he was really clueless, but regardless she was going to play along.

The house wasn't as solemn as Mallory expected. She was the first awake, seeing that she was the only one who wasn't drinking, and as everyone woke up and got over the initial depression that it was Christmas Day and they were without any family, they were able to discuss the party that they just had and laugh about all of the fun they had. It really took everyone's minds off of things.

Everyone except for Mallory, that is. She wasn't able stop thinking about how good it felt to not be alone in her huge bed. Tom may have been drunk and completely disorientated the night before, but she knew that he too enjoyed sleeping next to her, and she was seriously mulling over the idea of asking him to make it more of a permanent situation. At least, until Draco was back for good. She had no intentions on cheating, things with Draco were finally better when he had to leave, she just needed someone close to her. Later that night, she decided to talk to Bethany about what had happened.

"So you're asking me if you should cheat on your boyfriend with Tom, correct?" After getting the story, Bethany was not afraid to get to the point.

"No, you're not listening, I'm not going to have sex with Tom I just-"

"Want a relationship with him?"

Mallory sighed, "I'm not going to say that."

"You're just going to think it…and pursue it."

"I won't cheat on Draco, not after all he's done for me."

"Well that's where the issue is, Mallory, because Draco is gone for months at a time and it doesn't really seem like this can wait. And after all he's done for you? Like what? Trap you away in the house? Impregnate you? That's really where the list ends. You're making him out to be much more than he really is."

"If not for this house he's 'trapped' me in, I could be dead."

"No, you'd be at school. You'd still be okay. I'll admit that I can't see the future, but all this time you could have been at Hogwarts, finishing up your last year. He decided it was best to keep you here and you just went for it."

"If that's how you feel then why are you here?"  
"Cause I'm a rebel,of course. But this isn't about me. It seems pretty obvious that your situation is that you're with all passion no romance and you crave all romance no passion. If I were in your shoes, I'd go for both. But you're not me. We both know that."

"I could be you." Mallory said defensively.

"A. I wouldn't be 8 months pregnant and B. If you were going to be me, we would never have had to have this discussion."

Mallory knew Bethany was right; She wasn't Bethany. She didn't want to act slutty, but she also didn't think that she could break up with Draco. For some reason that just seemed like a ridiculous idea.

She decided right there that she wasn't going to cheat on Draco. She also wasn't going to deny the chemistry between her and Tom. She had to confront her feelings and put everything on the table.

Mallory tried to time it perfectly. She wanted to talk to Tom as soon as possible, but also didn't want to make things too awkward. She decided that she would do it the last day of December, because if anything he would be getting trashed at the New Years Eve party that night and all of the weirdness would be pushed aside.

After lunch, she helped Tom clear the dishes, giving them the perfect opportunity to talk.

"So…" Mallory started, "I think we need to have a bit of a serious talk."

"Oh no, you know? Tell me you know."

"Know what? I'm confused. I wanted to talk to you about Christmas Eve. I haven't exactly been truthful with you about what you don't remember."

"Oh no…did I embarrass myself further than falling up the stairs and ruining my sheets?"

"I wouldn't say that you embarrassed yourself..just…well… Tom, you kissed me. And I was flattered I really was." Tom looked mortified, but Mallory went on, "The thing is, Tom, is that I understand where those feelings are coming from. I feel it too, but it would just be so wrong for me to pursue that right now…so so wrong. As much as I truly believe I would be better off with you, what I have with Draco…" Mallory put her hands on her stomach, "Well, it sort of feels like it's supposed to be forever."

"So…so what you're saying is that you have feelings for me too but you don't want to leave Draco."

"I guess that is what I'm saying. I love Draco, I don't want to risk true love by going with an impulse."

"I respect that, I do, but if you're having feelings for someone else, does that mean you truly love him."

That really made Mallory think. Tom did have a point, how could she have feelings for someone else if she was truly in love with Draco.

"I'm choosing to not focus on that at this very moment. It's more important that this baby isn't born into a disastrous family where mom and dad are already separating. I'm not going to let that happen."

"But you do have feelings for me?"  
"I won't deny that, yes, I do."

"That's enough hope to keep me happy. I'm somewhat glad we had this talk. And I hope you know this doesn't jeopardize our friendship at all in my eyes. I'm still your nurse and I'm still here for you no matter what."

"You're the best, Tom."

They both smiled, but this time it felt different. Like they were both hiding a secret. It wasn't particularly a bad feeling, just a little dirty. Mallory wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"Oh," Tom said, "by the way, this makes your surprise super weird and I would like to apologize in advance."

"Should I be worried?"

"You should be excited! Go get ready for our New Years celebrations. Maybe I'll fall up the stairs again! I can almost promise it, actually."

What Mallory said was, "I'm looking forward to it." But what she was thinking was that maybe she would end up getting to help drunk Tom again. She was looking forward to that too.

She went upstairs to try to find something that would fit her and also looked nice. Recently she'd been stuck with leggings and tee shirts that she had enlarged herself with magic. She felt huge, but she had seen pregnant women who were much much larger than she was, and she was nearly done. She used her wand to make a sparkly black dress stretch to fit over her giant belly. One thing that she actually enjoyed about being pregnant was that she never had to worry about how she looked in tight clothes. The answer would always be pregnant and not fat. She was going to miss not having to keep track of her fitness. Another perk to pregnancy was the soft, thick hair that grew in. Tom told her that she would lose that once she had the baby, but for now it meant that a shower and a brush meant thick wavy locks that required zero effort.

Mallory was satisfied with how she looked for the party. She wasn't exactly comfortable with her size but she looked like a cute pregnant woman and not grossly overweight, which was all she ever asked for. She knew there was no possibility of leaving the house, but it felt nice to have a party to dress up for, even if it was with the same eight people.

Peony prepared a delicious meal and a bunch of snack for the night. The drink of the night was champagne, as per Bethany's request. She wanted to make the party like the fancy ones her family used to throw. Everyone got dressed up and although no one said it out loud, Mallory knew that they all wished 1998 would bring the changes that would make their lives normal again.

Everyone except Mallory was drunk by 9pm. While Mallory found it entertaining to watch everyone stumble over their words and act like morons, it got old pretty fast and she had at least 3 more hours of it. In fact, she was already tired and was contemplating a nap, and by 9:45 she was sneaking up to her room to try and skip all the middle and go straight to the countdown to the new year. She set an alarm for 11:50 so she could roll out of bed in her dress and join the party, hopefully with no one even noticing. She was fast asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

As her alarm blared in her ears Mallory slammed the snooze button. She figured snooze was 9 minutes and she had 10 to get downstairs. She then realized how unlikely it was that she'd be able to wobble from the bed to the living room in 60 seconds and forced her eyes open. As she sat up and began to detangle her hair the door opened. It was still dark, but she could see the silhouette of one of the boys.

"Oh no, I was caught. I'll be down in a minute, I just needed to rest my eyes."

He flipped the light switch and blinded Mallory, "Ah! Turn it off, no one should know what I look like when I first wake up!"

"Trust me, I've seen it many times before, I think your lion's mane is quite cute." Responded Draco.

Mallory stopped detangling her hair and looked at the man in the doorway in bewilderment.

"But…you said you'd be back by Febraury."

Draco smiled, "Should I leave? Because I can leave."

Mallory got out of bed and kissed him, "Don't be stupid."

From downstairs they could hear everyone beginning to chant, "10! 9! 8! 7!..."

Mallory broke their kiss at "3".

"2! 1!" Screams and shouts erupted from the living room.

Mallory pulled Draco back in for an official New Year's kiss.

Mallory could feel Draco smirk, "Happy New Year." He muttered.

1998 had officially arrived. As much as Mallory would have liked to pull Draco into bed to continue where they left off during his last visit, she decided it would be more proper to continue the part downstairs. She put her on on Draco's chest to push him through the door, but he didn't budge.

He didn't need to say a word; his smug expression said it all.

"Later, it's a holiday. Let's celebrate. I haven't seen you drunk since like our 5th year."

He pulled her in by the waist so her belly touched his abs. She felt strange, like she didn't match up. But he didn't seem to notice anything wrong.

"I can only stay for a few hours. My parents are having everyone over and it gave me a chance to slip out, but I can't be missing tomorrow."

Mallory sighed, she was hoping he'd be around until the due date. With him around all feelings for Tom were pushed to the back of her mind, and she loved having him round, of course.

"Exactly how long is a few hours?"

"Until 5, maybe? Let's just lie down, we don't have to do anything. I don't want to have to share you."

Mallory smiled, "That's sweet. But I want to do something, specific things, actually. I was just hoping you'd be around longer."

Draco kissed her forehead, "soon."

Draco woke her up when he was leaving to kiss her goodbye. She hugged him tight and refused to let go for a while. He let her hold on.

"Just a little over a month. I'll be here. It'll go by quick. We've endured much worse." He told her.

"Damn right we have. Love you." She let go of him and he kissed her one last time.

Once he was gone, she wondered how she ever thought of leaving him for Tom. At that moment she felt so much love for Draco.

Part of her wished that she could avoid Tom until Draco returned. That way she would never have to face her confused feelings and she could remain in the state of love she felt at that very moment forever. But she knew that she needed Tom. Not only as a nurse, but as a friend. If she wasn't dead tired, she would have never fallen asleep. It wasn't until she woke up later that day that she realized that she never told Draco that she had decided on a name. In fact, they never talked about a name for the baby. She truly thought that she would be fine for a little over 30 days. But when Tom woke her up that afternoon with a tray of breakfast in bed asking about how her surprise went, she had to admit to herself that denying feelings for him was no simple task.

Tom sat down with her and stole a piece of toast as he explained how Draco had told him that if things went as they usually do on New Year's Eve that he would be back. Tom held that secret even after Mallory confessed her feelings for him. The worst part was, Tom wasn't being extremely kind to impress Mallory, he was just being himself.

The rest of the month was not easy to get through. Romantic tension was running high as Tom did everything he could to keep Mallory comfortable in her final month of pregnancy. He massaged her feet and her lower back, he continued to prep her with breathing exercises, and he even continued to read Shakespeare's finest to Adrian. January came and went, and by February first Mallory was 100% done with being pregnant.

She was laying in the bath in a bikini with a jet shooting as hard as possible crying to Bethany about how miserable she felt. There was a knock at the door followed by Tom's voice.

"Honey, are you okay? Can I come in?"

Mallory tried to compose herself, "Yeah, I'm in a bathing suit. Bethany's here.

"I actually should go," said Bethany, "I need to take a shower myself."

Bethany left as Tom entered.

"Oh, Darling. I'm guessing you're not feeling too well? That's very typical for a woman as far in as you are."

"I don't ever want to leave the tub, to be honest. I need this baby out of me."

"There are plenty of things we can do to try to induce labour? It's not too early to deliver."

"As much as I would love that, I want Draco to be here and I told him the due date was Valentine's day. I can't just have the baby two weeks early."

"I admire your dedication to your boyfriend, but Adrian is going to come when he's ready."

"I understand, Tom, but I'm not going to coax him out."

Tom sat on the edge of the bath, "I didn't mean to upset you, I just hate seeing you so miserable. You're going to be so happy when you can finally hold your baby. I want that for you now."

"I can deal with being miserable to be so happy in two weeks."

"You know, if you don't naturally go into labour by Valentine's Day and Draco isn't here I have to induce you. You can't house a toddler in there."

Mallory sighed heavily, "Please. Let's just not talk about that happening."

"I'm sorry, I know. Put your feet up, I'll massage them." Tom said as he put out his hands."

Mallory lifted her foot, "You're a saint."

Mallory was determined to do everything in her power to keep Adrian in, even if she was miserable. When she pictured the birth of her baby she always pictured Draco beside her. She wasn't sure if she could do it without him.

Another week went by, and all Mallory felt was pressure and stress. She minimized her walking to the point where she walked the stairs once a day at most and refused to eat any food with a slight spice. But sure enough, on February 8th, as she laid back on the couch with a pounding back pain, she felt an odd sensation underneath her.

"TOM?" She shouted.

He flew down the stairs from her room. Mallory was in tears.

"It hurts. It hurts and I think I just peed myself, Tom, what's happening?"

He ran to her and helped her stand up.  
"Okay, it's okay. How long have you been in pain?"

"I don't know, it kind of woke me up this morning at around 9? It's just my normal pain. Pressure and…"

Tom had a concerned look on his face, "I need to check you for dilation."

"No, no. I'm not in labour, Tom. Valentine's day. Five more days. That's it."

"Well, your water just broke, and I believe you've been having contractions, so I have to say that you're experiencing the early signs of labour. It could be five days until you have the baby, but that's a long time to be in a lot of pain."

"You say that now, but I predict a very different response in a few hours."

Tom had never been more right.

He took her up to her room to find that her normal, large, comfortable bed had been replaced with a hospital bed.

"How did you do this?" She asked Tom.

"I've been prepared for weeks. I won't let anything go wrong."

He helped her on to the bed and explained that it was time for him to check her dilation. He had explained the whole birthing process to her before, but it still was very uncomfortable having him examine her privates when they were the only ones in the room.

"Okay, it looks like you're nearly 4cm, which means that the early stages of labor are coming to a close. Mallory, you've been in labour since these pains began, it's almost time to move on to active labour."

"That sounds terrifying."

"None of this is terrifying." Tom put his hand on her arm as she sat up in the bed. "Active labour can last a while as your contraction become closer together and last longer. You know this, we've been over this. For now you could eat something, walk around, watch television, take a bath, whatever you want. We have to time when you feel pain, though. These are your contractions. Now they're like 10 minutes apart, when they get down to about 6 minutes apart I want you in the bed, relaxing. I'll get you anything you need."

"So I've been contracting this whole time?"

Tom nodded.

"Can I nap?"

"If you're comfortable enough to nap then go right ahead, it will speed up the process mentally for you. That would actually be great. Do you mind if I sit over on the couch and read to keep an eye on you?"

"I'd like that."

Mallory did fall asleep for a bit, Tom said she was out for maybe a half hour when the pain woke her up. Tom went and got her an ice pop as her condition became worse. After three hours of switching between trying to watch television and speaking to visitors, she was done with the pain.

"Tom, isn't there anything for this pain."

"I'm sure you've heard of an epidural but I've never administered one and I'm not risking doing it wrong on you. So unfortunately, no. Do you want me to call Bethany in here to help you through the pain? She said she would come in for you."

"She said she'd be here for the birth?"

"Well…she said if you absolutely insist then yes, she'll do it."

Mallory thought about it, she would have liked some more support, but she knew how Bethany felt about natural birth and how disgusted she was by it, she wasn't going to do that to her best friend.

The pain felt never-ending, but according to Tom, Mallory was only 7cm dilated and her contractions still had time in between them. When it was time to push it would be constant pain, something Mallory couldn't imagine. She thought back to when she was telling Tom that she was going to wait 5 days. Honestly Mallory didn't want to wait 5 more minutes.

Tom tried to soothe her all he could, but she felt awful. She slowly was coming to the realization that the baby's father was not going to witness the birth. She knew it wasn't her fault, but she wanted to blame herself. It was only five more days.

It was another hour when Tom announced that she had reached the next stage of labour. It was time for the birthing phase. She had reached full dilation and was in an insurmountable amount of pain. It was dark outside, but Mallory had no idea how long she had been doing this for, the last time she looked at the clock she thought she had wet herself at 1pm.

Tom was at the foot of the bed instructing Mallory on when to push. She grabbed on to the plastic railings and tried her hardest to make it all be over, but as Tom prepared her for, she found herself to be pushing for much longer than the movies make it seem.

Two hours after being told to push her first time and she was screaming for it to end. Bethany poked in with a look of terror on her face, but Tom told her that if she wasn't going to stay that she needed to calm the house down and tell everyone that things were going swimmingly.

"Do you mean that?" Mallory asked breathlessly. "Because I feel like I'm going to die."

"You feel like you're going to push, everything's fine, less than an hour now, I promise you."

So Mallory pushed, just like Tom had told her. And like Tom said, at 11:11pm on February 8th, Adrian Malfoy was officially born; Breathing and healthy. With ten fingers, ten toes, and a head of curly strawberry blonde hair. Apparently the whole process took somewhere around 14 hours. Tom said that it was a surprisingly fast labor for a young mother with her first child. Mallory couldn't imagine it lasting any longer, but as Tom handed het baby boy to her, she realized that every moment was worth it. He was beautiful.

Tom had a hospital-esque crib for Adrian to keep next to Mallory's bed and once labour was all said and done and Mallory was able to rest for a few hours, they switched the bed back to her California King. It was 4 in the morning and Mallory realized that her, Adrian, and Tom were all starving. Tom helped her with beginning the breastfeeding process the moment Adrian was put into her arms, which luckily came very easily. As she started feeding him, Tom went downstairs to get the adults some food. He came back with an entire pizza pie with a note on it from Bethany. It read: "That sounded absolutely terrible, god damn. You need a drink. Can you drink yet? Soon, hopefully. Have some pizza. It's kind of like alcohol, but more greasy. I'm coming to see the little man as soon as I wake up. Don't let him pee on me. Also, happy birthday, Tom."

"TOM. It's your birthday! Oh no, 49 more minutes and Adrian would have had your birthday! Happy birthday!"

"I know! So close. Thank you darling, but pizza is the best way to celebrate! Is it not?"

Tom and Mallory both had a good laugh as they ate pizza and drank soda in front of the television with Adrian. Tom offered to stay on the couch until Draco arrived, but Mallory insisted that they share the bed. She had no ill intentions and as much as the feelings for Tom still existed, she genuinely needed him to help her learn how to properly care for a newborn baby, and after all he had done for her she wasn't going to let him have backaches for the next few days when there was plenty of room for him on the most comfortable bed Mallory had ever owned.

As most new mothers are, Mallory was scared. No matter what she did, if it involved Adrian she checked with Tom first. He was the most perfectly caring and patient teacher.

Adrian was a quiet baby and Mallory found herself waking up in the middle of the night just to make sure he was still fine, even if he wasn't hungry. Once Mallory got the hang of the breast pump, Tom was able to feed Adrian when he did cry at night. Even when Mallory offered, he insisted. He wanted her to get as much rest as possible for when Draco arrived.

Valentine's day had arrived in the blink of an eye. Mallory had expected having a newborn to be difficult, but with the help of everyone in the house in the daytime and with Tom's help during the nights, Mallory found a lot of time to relax and get used to her post-pregnant self. She had lost about 13 pounds when she gave labour and although she still had a belly, she was looking a lot better. Tom said she would be able to see her true body in about a four to six weeks when everything shrunk back down to size, which was when he suggested she wait to start working out, which she was desperate to do. She missed being comfortable in her body. She had gained about 35 pounds according to her scale, which meant she had 22 to lose before she was back to her regular size. She never really needed to diet before, but she was ready to give it all she had.

He also mentioned waiting four to six weeks to have sex, which was a bit of an awkward situation. Tom handled all of the information he had to give Mallory professionally, but she knew that he felt just as uncomfortable about basically being replaced by Draco when he arrived.

Mallory tried to look as presentable as she could, not only was it the first time Draco would see her without her huge protruding stomach, but it was Valentine's day. She waited in the living room with Adrian for hours. Looking back at the door every time there was the slightest of noises. She ended up falling asleep on the couch and waking up with Tom next to her, feeding Adrian.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"Almost daylight, I'm sorry Mallory, he must have gotten caught up with something. I'm sure he'll be here soon."

But he wasn't. In face, not only did Draco miss the planned due date, he missed the entire month. February came and went and the only person she was sharing her bed with was Tom.

The day Adrian turned a month old Mallory began an exercise routine. She was already eating as healthy as possible, not only for her but to keep her breast milk in top shape, and she had a significantly smaller stomach than she did after giving birth and the scale said she was down 3 pounds. She started off just walking as much as possible. It was still cold out so she couldn't take Adrian with her, but it was nice to be able t to comfortably walk, not wobble, and get some alone time with the outdoors.

By the end of March she was at the 6 week mark, and she was running and enjoying it very much. Her body wasn't anywhere close to before pregnancy, but she had a curvy look to her that she actually liked. She didn't plan on stopping her exercise, but she also didn't mind the way she looked. Especially her breasts; although they were mostly milk and sore a lot, they were double the size they used to be.

When Draco missed the initial due date, Mallory wasn't angry, she was upset. But as time went on, and more weeks passed. Her sadness turned to anger. Wherever he was, he was well aware that his son was in the world, and he couldn't even stop in for a few hours to meet him.

As her anger for Draco grew, so did her fondness for Tom. He really stepped up to the plate for Draco, just like he did all throughout her pregnancy, and by April Mallory felt no reason to honor her relationship with Draco.

One night as Tom prepared himself for bed, Mallory decided that it was time to say something.

"So, Adrian has been doing pretty well sleeping in his real crib."

"Excellent actually. I much prefer the baby monitor next to the bed as opposed to the actual baby. I actually was going to bring this up tonight myself, since he's in the crib and I could bring another baby monitor to my own room, should I relinquish your full bed back to you?"

"Do you want to go back to sleeping in your room?"

The room was quiet for a few seconds. Tom ran his fingers through his hair and let out a sigh. "I don't."

Mallory pulled back the covers of the bed. "I don't want you to either."

Tom turned out the lights and got in next to her. She knew Tom and how much he respected her, if anything was ever going to happen she was going to have to make the first move.

She turned to face him in the dark; she could feel his breath on her lips. She stretched out her arms and put them around his neck, pulling herself in for a kiss. Their lips met in a most gentle manner, nothing like she had ever experienced with Draco. There was no rush, no grabbing for clothes, just a soft kiss. Tom pulled away slowly and Mallory could feel him trying to look at her in the dark.

"Mallory…I…as much as I want this. You're with Draco."

"No. No, I'm not. If I could tell him it's over right now I would, but he's off somewhere, not contacting me for months at a time. I can't wait any longer, Tom, I want to be able to be with you and I don't want to have to feel guilty for it. I shouldn't feel guilty for it. And neither should you."

"Draco will be back soon. He's going to find a way to meet Adrian. Let's just wait. If we start this relationship improperly it's not going to work."

Mallory lightly kissed him on the cheek, "Is cuddling improper? Because I'm not tired anymore and it's been a while since we watched a movie."

He smiled, "I think I can let it slide."

As much as Mallory didn't care about officially breaking up with Draco before officially dating Tom, he was very serious about not letting things get too far. All of Mallory's advances were stopped short as they waited for Draco to show up, if he ever planned to. Mallory's 18th birthday was April 19th, and although she didn't want to drink because she was still breast-feeding, that didn't stop her from asking Peony to get plenty of alcohol for everyone else, especially Tom. She figured that if he could let his guard down, even just a little, he would be able to see that what they were doing was okay. So she watched his hand all night, and as one glass of champagne left she replaced it with another. At the end of the night he wasn't falling up the stairs, but he was tipsy. She put Adrian to bed and slid in next to Tom.

"How are you feeling?" She asked as she laid her head on his bicep. He put his arm around her as she wrapped herself around him.

"I had a great time tonight, happy birthday, Love."

"I know there's no way we can get each other presents, but I do have one thing in mind that I'd like."

He gave her a questioning look as she moved her lips towards him. She started kissing him, and he didn't deny her advances.

"Are you trying to take advantage of me while I'm drunk?" He asked without breaking the kiss.

"Shh, it won't work if you figure out the plan." She said as she climbed on top of him. She could feel that he was hard beneath his pants, it seemed like her plan may actually work.

He seemed hesitant for a moment but as Mallory unbuttoned her shirt to reveal her heaving breasts she could feel him begin to falter.

"Mallory…" His hands were on her hips as his thumbs rubbed back and forth on her skin.

She pouted her lips as she slowly pushed up his shirt and leaned down so her lips were just barely touching his, "It's my birthday…" she whimpered.

That seemed to be all he needed. He reach flipped her around so he was on top of her, at first she thought he may be about to lay down the law, but instead he took hold of both of her hands and put them next to her head as he continued to kiss her. Things were moving much faster now, as he kissed her she could taste the alcohol on his breath. She was in just a pair of underwear as he removed his pants.

"Are you sure?" She asked. She wanted him more than anything, but she wanted to make sure he wasn't making a drunken mistake.

He removed his underwear and crawled back on top of her. With his arms on either side of her she felt dominated. This was not a typical trait of Tom, and she liked it very much.

"Happy Birthday." He said as he leaned in to kiss her neck and continue down her body.

As he kissed below her belly button he slid off her panties. She was a bit worried about having sex for the first time since she gave birth, but she knew Tom wouldn't hurt her. He was gentle, just like their first kiss, and when she had adjusted to him she was even able to get on top of him. She was fairly sure that Tom was a virgin, but he didn't seem like it at all, and as she fell asleep in his arms, she truly hoped that Draco never came back.

The rest of the month was ideal for Mallory. Tom was no longer able to deny that they were officially a couple, and with his uneasiness about not telling Draco diminishing, Mallory really felt like she had a little family. Adrian adored Tom, even to the point of when Mallory couldn't stop him from crying- Tom took charge. He was an amazing father and an even more amazing boyfriend. Bethany was totally correct when she said that Mallory liked Tom because he was everything that Draco wasn't. The adventure and mystery that came with Draco was fun at first, but now that Mallory was a mother, she wanted security and love. Tom supplied that and much more.

As summer approached, so did the house's talk of their next move. Being chained to a house for nearly a year was exhausting, and although the safety was like nowhere else, everyone in the house wondered how much longer they could last. Everyone, that is, except for Mallory and Tom. Mallory had dreamt of the day her and Tom could move out on their own with Adrian, but if staying in the safe house was the best for Adrian, they weren't budging.

Tom called a house meeting the on the first day of May to discuss everyones plans. The three Ravenclaws agreed that while it would be great to see the outside world, they had no plans on leaving until they were guaranteed another form of safety.

Stuart and Michael explained that they were going insane and wanted to leave as soon as possible, and Megan said that she had an idea to meet up with some old school friends and possibly join the fight.

Tom was able to convince everyone to wait until they get news form outside to make any final decisions. Mallory knew this meant Draco, but pretended she didn't realize what Tom was really saying. She genuinely didn't want to see Draco ever again. He would do nothing but bring up old memories and she was worried that he would convince her to leave Tom. He could make her heart say anything, but she knew that she had to stick with her head; For Adrian.

Bethany came up to Tom and Mallory's room later that day and explained that as much as she wanted to be a part of Mallory's life, especially with the baby, her original purpose for being in the house was to make sure Mallory was okay, and with Tom and her becoming so close, she was no longer necessary. She too agreed to wait for news from Draco before she packed up and left, but by the end of summer she wanted to be off finding work and reuniting with her parents. She was a pure blood with nothing to really worry about, and she felt like it was time to go live her life. Mallory understood, but deep down she hoped that didn't mean that they would never cross paths again.

Mallory had a lot on her mind for the next few days. Several of the people she had seen every day for the past 9 months could very well be gone forever soon, including her best friend. In addition to this, she hadn't seen Peony in the past few days and she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that she couldn't shake.

Mallory never claimed to be a seer, or any good at divination for that matter, but when that feeling in the pit of her stomach arrived at her doorstep on May third in the form of Draco Malfoy, she contemplated giving everyone in the house tea leaf readings for good measure.

Her look of utter shock was greeted with a bone crushing hug from an unfamiliar Draco Malfoy. His usual clean demeanor in a black suit was now a somewhat greasy overly excited teenage Draco in the same black suit, but with actual pieces missing from being ripped. He looked like he had just gotten out of bed and bed was a ditch.

Mallory was at a loss for words, which wasn't a terrible thing because Draco was talking so fast he was using all of the air.

"I've never been so happy to see you. It's over, Mallory. IT'S OVER!" Draco was shouting to the house as he grabbed Mallory by the hips, "and _you. _YOU! You're gorgeous! You're perfect! You're not pregnant! Where is he?"

"Draco, take a moment, what happened?"

"Well Potter was captured and taken to my house with his friends only to escape and then, THEN, just two days ago there was a battle at Hogwarts. Not a battle, THE battle. There was so much bloodshed and loss but we can catch up on all of that later because you can read about it in a Daily Prophet when you're out on the streets of Diagon Alley because VOLDEMORT IS DEAD! It's over, my darling! Pack your bags! We're moving! I'll find us a place by tomorrow."

Draco was so ecstatic that he didn't see how uncomfortable Mallory was.

"Draco, I…"

She wanted to tell him everything, but everyone was gravitating toward him as he told the story of how Voldemort was defeated. Everyone but Tom, who had either realized what was happening or was tending to Adrian.

As everyone surrounded Draco, Mallory was able to slip away to Tom upstairs. She found him reading a book to Adrian who was more interested in drooling on the pages.

"Tom. He's here. It's all over. We're free. But he doesn't know yet and I can't breath."

Tom put Adrian in his play crib and consoled Mallory until she was done with her panic attack as she told him all she could.

"Darling, he's going to come up here when he's done with his stories, and I will be right here for you, but you have to do this. We can go right after if you want, we can stay in my parent's house, they have an empty guest house behind the main house for us. We will figure out what we're going to do and start to live. But Draco has a right to know what's happening and as much as it bothers me, he has a right to Adrian."

As he finished his sentence there was a knock at the door followed by Draco who didn't feel the need to wait to enter. Mallory had tear-streaked eyes, but all Draco had eyes for at the moment was the curly headed baby chewing on a book.

He walked right over to Adrian, but didn't try to carry him.

"Wow…" he said incredulously.

"Yeah, you missed a lot as your soon grew into a 3 month old." Mallory said in a snarky tone.

"Can I hold him?"

"Of course, Draco, but we need to talk. Tom, can you take Adrian for a moment?"

Tom picked up the baby and went into Adrian's room.

"What's going on, Mallory? I love you and want to see you terribly, but I've missed so much with Adrian…"

"You've missed a lot in general, Draco. I was trying to tell you downstairs but…I…I just don't want to leave here to move somewhere else with you."

Draco looked confused, "Do you mean you want to continue living here? Because I can arrange that, just some interior designing with the rooms…"

"No, Draco, you don't understand. You were gone…for so long. You're 3 months late. You promised you'd be here for the birth of your child and you missed it. I assumed you weren't coming back and acted as such."

"As in…what? You cheated on me? With…with Tom?"

"I never cheated on you, I wasn't able to tell you that I was leaving you because I couldn't find you!"

"You were shagging someone else while we were still together!"  
"You were with me, not I with you. I couldn't wait around and hope you'd show up."

"You thought I wasn't coming back? Did you think I was dead? I can't believe this!"

"I thought you decided that you no longer wanted any part of this."

"Well that's stupid! I'm here now! Let me make this up, don't make a poor decision; you're giving up so much. Look at this house! Look at what I can give you!"

"All I want is security and someone lying next to me every night. And someone who loves Adrian."

"I do love him."

Mallory scoffed, "You don't even know him, Draco."

"And now I can never get to know him? Do you know how messed up that is?! "

"We can work out a split custody situation, of course-"

Draco was getting angry, "What, what, what are you saying? No! Absolutely not! You're not in your right mind!"

"You need to listen to me! You're making this harder than it has to on so many levels! I am not longer anything to you, Draco! We are over! O-V-E-R, OVER."

Draco's lost all of the blood in his face, "Send me an owl with the papers for custody then. Enjoy your life."

With that, he apparated, leaving Mallory to begin her new life.

What she didn't realize was that her new life would begin with her breaking down into tears. Tom heard the pop of Draco's apparation and returned to Mallory's side as quickly as he could.

"I can handle all of this, Darling. Let's just pack and get to my parents. We're going to be okay." Mallory was glad that Tom seemed so sure that everything would be okay, because Mallory was desperate for some reassurance.

For a group of people who were consistently together for so long, goodbyes weren't very difficult. Stuart and Tom were already packed and were in the livingroom saying goodbye before Draco had even left. The Ravenclaws rushed to collect their things and themselves and then they too were out the door with some quick hugs and thank yous. Everyone said they'd stay in touch, but Mallory knew that was unlikely. Megan had tears running down her face, as a typical Hufflepuff, she was a bit more emotional than anyone else. She truly seemed like she wanted to keep in touch, especially with Tom. Once she was gone it was just Mallory, Tom, Adrian, and Bethany. It's not that everyone was rude, but the idea of seeing the outside world again was just too titillating. Perhaps one day they would all meet up again, but for now they had seen more than enough of each other.

Bethany was still in her room getting all of her things together. She didn't seem as excited as everyone else, probably because she knew her parents were bound to be in trouble since Voldemort had lost the fight and she was most likely going home to an empty house.

Mallory offered for her to stay with her and Tom as everything was figured out, but Bethany said that she just really wanted to see her old room and stay at her place, so Mallory went on to packing all of her and Adrian's things. Before she left, Pamela put an undetectable extension charm on Mallory's purses since Draco had everything put in for them and therefore they had no suitcases, so as the remaining members of the house met in the livingroom, all Mallory had was a baby bag and an oversized handbag. Bethany rolled her suitcases down the stairs and gave Mallory a long hug.

"Tom gave me your address, I'll write once everything is figured out and we can catch up, okay?"

"Absolutely." Mallory replied. She felt like it should have been a sad moment, saying goodbye to the beautiful safe house and the last of the people in it, but it wasn't at all, she was excited. A little terrified, of course, but excited.

In fact, the saddest part of leaving was that they weren't able to say goodbye to Peony. She had never returned after she went missing for a few days. As the only one who could apparate anywhere, most of the housemates assumed she went to fight at Hogwarts and never returned. Mallory went downstairs to where her room was to find a small sack of floo powder on her dresser. There weren't any notes or any belongings, just the floo powder. Mallory was unsure if Peony was just holding it for future use or if she left it intentionally for the humans in the house, so she took a bit for her, Tom, and Adrian. The plan was to floo to Diagon Alley and then use a passage from there to the muggle world where they would take regular transport to Tom's parents house. Her initial instinct was to go home to her mother, but she hadn't quite figured out how she would explain everything to her, so she decided to put that off for a bit.

As she stepped into the fireplace with Adrian, she looked around and said one last goodbye to what would now be her old home, and also her first hello to what would now be her new life.

Mallory stepped into The Leaky Cauldron and found it to be very crowded. People were laughing and enjoying themselves with drink in hand. In fact, no one seemed to even notice her presence. Tom flooed in almost immediately after her, and put his hand around his waist as he handed her her handbag. They both stood there for a moment in silence, they had both been to The Leaky Cauldron numerous times, but this time it was different. They hadn't seen the world in so long, and not only that, but they were now in a post-war world. They had no idea what to expect.

As they walked out of the pub, Diagon Alley looked much different than the last time they saw it. Once it was clear that Voldemort had returned, Diagon Alley lost most of its flare. No one really wandered the cobblestone streets to enjoy the shops on the nice days. But now, it was busier than ever. Tom and Mallory could barely move with all of the people. Mallory held Adrian close to her chest. The atmosphere was one of delight and joy, everyone was smiling as if it were Christmas Day, but Mallory just wanted to get out of there and get settled. In that moment, she felt somewhat homeless, and didn't feel like celebrating with the rest of the wizarding population.

Tom seemed to feel the same as he put his arm around Mallory's shoulder and led her away from Diagon Alley. They hopped on a bus that took them away from the magical world and to King's Cross where they took a 30 minute train ride that dropped them off a block away from Tom's home.

As they knocked on the front door of Tom's house, Mallory felt nervous. Tom insisted that his parents were extremely kind, but how could anyone be kind when their son returns after nearly a year away with a strange girl and a baby? A tiny older woman with shoulder length orange hair answered the door. She looked up at her son with wide eyes.

"Tom? Oh! Tom!" She embraced him. "James, come quick! It's Tom!"

A voice from inside the house responded, "Diana, what are you shouting about?"

"Tom's back!"

A much taller man with brown hair came to the door, he looked less like Tom than his mother but he was still obviously his father.

"As I live and breathe. You're okay!" He too embraced Tom.

"It's so good to see you both. I'm okay, everything's fine now, but I do have a slight problem that needs to be solved. Well, not a problem. Let me introduce you to my girlfriend, Mallory."

Mallory smiled with Adrian in her arms.

"Oh, how rude! I'm sorry we didn't even say hello! And who's this?" responded Diana looking at Adrian."

"That's Mallory's son, Adrian." James shot a quick look at Tom, "Not my son, dad."

Both of his parents seemed to relax at that comment.

"This sounds like it's going to be quite a story, why don't you two come in and I'll fix you some tea and we'll get to talking?" said James.

Tom told the entire story; Mallory just sat back with Adrian. In the end Tom's parents were just as great as he was. His mother, Diana, actually seemed excited about having them live in the guesthouse, she was in love with Adrian and he had barely woken up since she met him. Neither one of them seemed judgmental of Mallory's situation at all, in fact, they wanted to help. James offered to get the numbers of some lawyers that could help with the custody situation, but Tom explained that they'd probably have to do this in the wizarding world. That's one thing that his parents couldn't help with at all. They seemed clueless when Tom talked outside of muggle terms, it was incredible that an entire war went on and the muggles had no idea.

After tea and some food, Diana showed them to the guesthouse. The main house itself was beautiful. It wasn't insanely extravagant like Dracos, but it was a nice sized house that was spotlessly clean. The guesthouse was previously just a garage, but Tom's father installed a second floor in hopes of renting it out to make some spare cash, but they didn't get many visitors. It was all one floor, but ideal for a couple. There was one bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a small sitting area.

Tom's parents left the two to settle in and Tom worked on the flat a bit to make more comfortable. The bedroom was fine, but he put another room to the side of it for Adrian. He then extended the kitchen to fit a four person table, and also extended the livingroom to fit two couches and a television. It was still small compared to what Mallory had been treated to with Draco, but she welcomed the change. It was much more intimate and cozy than what she had been treated to in the past year.

It didn't take long to get everything into place, and once all of their belongings were put away and Adrian was asleep for the night, Tom and Mallory had some time alone together. She turned on the television as he prepared some food. There was a window cut out in between the kitchen and the living room and she could feel him looking over to her every few minutes. When he brought the snacks over to her he sat down next to her and put his arm around her. It felt really nice to feel so safe and happy.

That feeling didn't last long though, because a week later they received a letter from Draco. Mallory saw the Malfoy name on the envelope and immediately handed it to Tom. He read the letter for her, and for a letter from a Malfoy, it seemed odd. Mallory expected to be attacked by expensive lawyers and such, telling her that she would be expected in court. She had seen it all herself when she was young and her parents divorced. She had been working on preparing herself for a custody battle. But the letter from Draco was a personal one, in which he asked if he could come to them for a talk. Mallory understood that he had every right to meet Adrian and be in his life, and if Draco wanted to do on a personal level rather than a legal one, she was definitely interested.

She sent a letter back, telling him that he could come the following day, and at noon, like clockwork, there was a knock on the door. Much to Tom's disliking Mallory asked him if he could not be there for the conversation with Draco. Mallory had a feeling that it would get personal and she didn't want Tom to have to get involved in that. So Tom took Adrian out food shopping and Draco and Mallory were able to be alone.

She opened the door to find him in a casual outfit, which for him was black slacks and a button down white shirt. He looked beaten down, not like he was prepared to fight. She invited him in and they sat across from each other at the kitchen table. Mallory wasn't sure what his plans were so she started the conversation.

"Listen, Draco, I know you have every right to be in Adrian's life and I don't want to hold you from that. So if you want to come see him on the weekends, and then when he's older take him on some days, I'm totally fine with that, I know we can handle this like adults."

Draco sighed, "I'm more interested in talking about us than about Adrian right now."

"Draco, there is no us, I'm really happy with Tom, aren't you here because of Adrian?"

"Well, yeah, I'm here because we finally have a chance to be a happy family and you're passing that up. This is the time that we've been waiting for. I'm free to be with you. To focus everything on you-"

"Stop there, Draco. I don't need you to focus on me anymore. That's what I wanted in the past."

"And you stopped loving me because I couldn't give it to you, but now I can! I came here with the hopes of another chance…"

"What about Tom?"  
"C'mon…if you really loved him you would have stayed with him back at Hogwarts, instead you came to me."  
"That's not how it happened Draco, you know that."

"No, I don't know anything really. I have no idea how this happened and I'm confused. You just left me."

"You abandoned me."

"I'm here now!"

"It's too late, Draco! It's just…too late. If you want to see your son, let me know, we'll work something out. But right now I think you should go."

Draco stood up to leave, but then sat back down. He actually looked hurt and Mallory began to really feel bad for him.

He looked down at the table collecting his thoughts, and then looked back at Mallory with the saddest eyes she'd ever seen, "Can I come by this weekend? Around noon?"

"For Adrian?"

He nodded.

"Of course, Draco."

Draco left giving Mallory some time alone before Tom came back. She never imagined herself in a position where two men wanted her at once. She thought of what Bethany would say, and then immediately put that out of her mind because she wasn't going to have a threesome.

She'd be lying if she said she didn't still have feelings for Draco, but she wasn't interested in the hectic life that came alone with him. She was addicted to the safety that Tom made her feel. He was going to work on getting a position at St. Mungo's soon and he insisted that Mallory relax and spend time with Adrian before she thought of going to work. They had a stable home, and truly loved one another. Mallory wasn't willing to leave that for the passion that came with Draco. She was a mother now and planned like acting like one.

When Tom returned with Adrian she explained what happened with Draco. She told Tom the complete truth, because she knew that he would never lie to her. The smile on his face said it all, he obviously worried about her going back to Draco, and although he too felt bad for Draco, when she openly stated that she chose Tom, it made him happy, which made Mallory happy.

That weekend Draco visited just as he said, but this time Tom was there so he couldn't pull what he did during his and Mallory's meeting. Mallory assumed that in the future Draco would take Adrian out on his days, but for now he had no knowledge on how to care for a 3 month old baby, and he needed supervision.

As the weeks went by Draco became much more comfortable with Adrian and his visits went from something Mallory dreaded to a great help. Mallory hated the idea of taking advantage of Tom's parents so she used this time to grocery shop and run other errands without the baby. Tom also took advantage of his new found free time and used it to apply to and acquire a job at St. Mungo's. It was only an assistant position, where he would either be working the desk or helping the real nurses, but he planned on working his way up to eventually being a real nurse. The pay was pretty good and by Adrian's first birthday Tom and Mallory were in the market for a home of their own.

"I think we should stay in the muggle world, it's safer here for Adrian." Explained Mallory.

"The wizarding world is completely safe now, I work there every day. You just need to visit more, you haven't been back in months." Retorted Tom.

"That's because I like it here so much, and besides, I think it's time I reconnect with my mother, and do you really want to leave your parents?"

"We can visit our parents whenever, let's see you work toward a relationship with your mother and then maybe I'll reconsider. But when Adrian turns 11 and goes to school, you know he's going to want to live closer to the magic, just like the both of us did."

"Tom, you're thinking 10 years into the future, who knows where we'll be in our lives at that point."

Tom took hold of her hands from across the kitchen table, "I know we'll be together."

It wasn't that Mallory didn't want to reconnect with her mother, but how do you walk up to the doorstep of someone you haven't seen in well over a year and explain where you've been? And then tell her that she's now a grandmother? Mallory and her mother had never been particularly close. Once Mallory discovered that she was a witch, her mother immediately related her to her father whom she divorced from when Mallory was a baby and pretty much forced a disconnect between her and her child. Despite all of her fears, Mallory was stubborn, and she wasn't going to move to the wizarding world without a fight.

Mallory walked up the stairs to her old home with butterflies in her stomach, she still wasn't sure what she was going to say. She was about to turn back around after no one responded to her knocks when the door opened slowly.

"Who is it?"

Mallory recognized her mother's voice immediately.

"Mom, it's me. Mallory."

Her mom opened the door apprehensively.

"I thought…wow, you're alive?"

"Yeah! I…well…a lot went on…it's kind of a long story."

Mallory's mother invited her in and Mallory tried to explain everything to her but as a muggle she had dozens of questions. Mallory did lie a bit and extended the length of the war so her mother wouldn't be upset that she was avoiding coming home.

Once her mother had the basic idea of why Mallory had to be in hiding Mallory had one more bomb to drop on her.

"Also, during all of this, I may have had a baby?"

Her mom gasped.

"Well, not during all of this, I got pregnant during my 6th year of school hand had the baby through all of this."

"Mallory, you were in school, what? Two years ago? Are you saying that you have a baby now?"

"Well…yeah, she turned one year old two weeks ago…"

Her mother put her hand to her head, "I don't know how to react."

Mallory was silent.

"My daughter comes to the door telling me that she isn't dead but was just missing for 2 years and that in that time I became a grandparent? Do you need something from me or did you just stop by to let me know?"  
"I thought you might. I don't know. Want to know I'm alive?"

Her mother sighed and looked down at the table. She looked more tired than Mallory remembered, she aged so much in just two years.

"This is just too much for me to handle right now…" she said quietly.

"Should I…leave?" asked Mallory.

"Yeah, I'll…I'll be in touch."

Mallory was hurt. She quickly left her mother's flat and apparated back home.

Draco was there holding the sleeping baby, watching television. Tom was still at work.

Mallory ran past him with tears in her eyes.

"What's going on?" Draco asked as he followed her into her bedroom.

"Nothing, Draco. Just give me a moment."  
"You're crying…" he said softly.

"You're so perceptive."

He sat down on the bed next to her.

"I don't want you in my room, Draco, can you go?"

"But…you're crying. What happened?"

Mallory let out a heavy sigh, "I went to my mother's house and let's just say that she was less than happy to see me."

Draco rubbed her back, "Is this the first time you've seen her since the war?"  
"Since our 6th year actually."

"That's…that's rough. If it makes you feel any better, my mother still asks about you when I take Adrian to see her. She loves him like crazy.

"You're mother's wonderful, Draco. You're lucky."

He smiled, "You don't need your mother if she's not interested. You've found your own family." His smile faded with that.

As Mallory collected herself, Adrian stumbled into the room and put his arms up for her.

"Oh, hello darling." She said as she picked him up.

"Look at that hair!" Draco exclaimed as he tousled Adrian's hair, "Talk about bed-head"

The two of them laughed and played with Adrian on the bed. As they did this, Mallory caught a glimpse of themselves in the mirror. It was odd to be staring directly at the life she could have had while living in the life she chose. She had no intentions of ever leaving Tom, but it was still very odd.

After Draco left and Adrian was down for the night she told Tom everything. He held her as she began to cry again and agreed that if she still wanted to live in the muggle world that he would start looking for flats in the area. For a moment she thought that maybe the wizarding world would be good, they would be able to get away from any family drama, but Mallory still had a fear of the danger that came with magical people and in the end decided that it would be better for Adrian to stay away from all of it until he was old enough to understand it.

Mallory's 19th birthday was their moving day. She couldn't stop thinking of where she was just one year prior. She never imagined that she would officially be moving in with Tom and Adrian. The new flat was much roomier than Tom's parent's guesthouse. The front door opened to a large living room that was a few steps down from the entrance. This flat also had a kitchen with a window to the living room, but in addition to that there was a dining room for eating. Everyone had larger rooms than they did before. Adrian would be able to fit tons of toys where before he couldn't fit much more than furniture, and Tom and Mallory would be able to have a king-sized bed just like they shared in the safe house.

Mallory's favorite part of all was that it was on a quiet muggle cul-de-sac. Just what she wanted for Adrian. Tom was just happy that she was happy, and the house wasn't far from a train that would take him to London for work in just about 20 minutes.

That's where Mallory sat on the couch with Tom as Draco took Adrian to the movies. Despite Draco being uncomfortable with Mallory being slowly introduced back into the muggle world, Tom had been begging her since they moved in to their flat to give it a shot. She was starting to miss having magic all around her like she did when she was living at Hogwarts, and was definitely contemplating moving once their 2 year lease was up on their flat.

She thought about how happy that would make Draco, Mallory knew that he wanted his son to have more of a magical background once he began to develop powers, and Adrian was very interested himself. The look of wonder in his eyes when Mallory and Tom pushed him in his stroller down Diagon Alley warmed Mallory's heart. His favorite place to go was Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Even at two he was a bit of a prankster.

Once Draco found out that they were taking Adrian into the wizarding world, he started to get more protective over his son. Draco was never fond of Tom. He was glad that Mallory was with someone who treated her well, but like most men he was intimidated by another man moving in on what he believed was his. This also included Mallory. Despite Mallory telling him countless times that she was happy with Tom, Draco held on to the hope that they would be a happy family one day. This dream of his didn't stop Draco from being himself, of course. Mallory still stayed in touch with Bethany and when they would get together she would inform Mallory on what Draco was really up to. They both worked in the potions department of The Ministry and Bethany watched him hop from one woman to the next. These stories only confirmed to Mallory that she made the right choice.

Draco's anger didn't only come from seeing the woman he loved and his child with another man, but it came from the public knowing that the woman he loved and his child were happy with another man. The Malfoy image was being built back up. His mother pretty much saved Harry Potter in the war, which was the beginning of turning the Malfoy name around. They owned a bunch of branches of The Ministry and were really as rich as ever. People knew of Draco and Adrian from when Draco would take him to charity balls to enhance his image. So when people saw Adrian with his mother and a man that wasn't Draco, there was talk. But this talk was honestly none of Mallory's concern. She actually enjoyed Draco get angry, she always had.

"What are you thinking about, darling? You've been quiet for quite some time."

"Just Adrian and what's best for him school-wise. You know, Bethany has been talking about starting a coffee house on diagon alley on the side and if I were to help her it would make sense to move closer to there. But then Adrian would be in wizard day care and I don't know if that's best."  
"Well, it may be about 2 years off, but before we know it he's going to start showing signs of magic and I'm not sure how a muggle day care would handle that. He's already a little firecracker when it comes to his toy broomstick and his piles of stuff from the joke shop."

Mallory laughed at the memories of him zooming by on his little broom, "I suppose you're right."

"Regardless, we have another 6 months until our lease is up, but if you're serious about moving I'll look into it soon."

"I think it might be time."

After Christmas Tom began to look into flats in wizard villages and found a full house for them on a hill near the beach in the village of Tinworth. It was a wizarding area so they would be connected through the floo network and never had to take muggle transport to work. Tom took Mallory to look at it in January and she fell in love. It was two floors and had a beautiful, rustic kitchen which is was really sold Mallory. The upstairs had three bedrooms and there was even a study for Tom and Mallory when they needed alone time. The dining room was big enough so they could actually host a party, and the living room area was all window so they could look out and see the ocean.

The coziness reminded Mallory of the safe house but it was free and open at the same time. It was so perfect that even though they had their old flat until April, they purchased the new house and moved in so that they could celebrate Adrian's third birthday there.

Now that Adrian was three, Mallory felt ready to start working and let him go to daycare rather than be home with her all day. Draco recommended the one he attended as a child, a prestigious wizarding day care. At first, Mallory declined because of the price tage, but when Draco offered to pay for it, she couldn't say no.

With her days free, Mallory went forward with Bethany's idea to open a coffee shop. Although Bethany had her job in the potions department, she also had the funds to open up her shop, which was always a dream of hers. It was Mallory's job to keep it in check since Bethany couldn't be there in the day.

The place really took off, and Mallory went from working a few hours to being there the entire time Adrian was in day care. They hired a full staff to bake and serve the customers, and still were making way more money than they expected. In fact, one of their biggest benefactors was Draco. Not only did he come in almost daily for lunch, but he also had a tendency to "anonymously donate" by sending checks in the mail (checks with his name on the top). Once he got over the fact that people were going to see his child with another man and was able to come up with a story to tell the people in his circle, he came around to the idea of having Mallory, Tom, and Adrian on his side of town.

Everything was going swimmingly, and on Mallory's 21st birthday, Tom took her to an extravagant dinner while Draco has Adrian for the night, and asked her to marry him. He ordered champagne and on the tray that the waiter had was the box with the ring. He got down on one knee and did everything perfectly.

"Mallory, we've officially been together for 3 years now and although I've been happy every minute that I've spent with you, we've never been better than we are right now. Will you make this last forever by doing me the honor of being my wife?"

Of course Mallory said yes, and the two returned home to watch the sunrise on the beach and fall asleep in each other's arms. When it came to romance, Tom was the king.

The next day was a Sunday, but Tom had work, so Mallory was home alone when Draco came to drop off Adrian.

"Mommy! I'm home!" Shouted his little voice as they came through the fireplace.

"I'm in the kitchen making lunch!"

Adrian ran in full speed followed by Draco. Mallory was in the most amazing mood after the night she just had.

"Draco, do you want to stay? I'm making sandwiches."

Draco's eyes were attracted to the sparkle of her finger.

"Is that…Mallory, is that what I think it is?"

"Not right now, Draco. I need to explain this with Tom." Mallory responded in an airy voice not to attract Adrian to the conversation.

"Adrian, can you take your lunch to your room? Mommy and I have to have grown up talk for a few minutes."

"Okay, Daddy!" Adrian said cheerfully as he ran off to his room with his sandwich.

Once he was out of ear shot Draco began to talk in a hushed, angry tone, "Are you kidding me, Mallory? He proposed to you? And you said yes? What were you thinking? What is he going to try to adopt Adrian now? Because I'm still here."

"Draco, don't do this, we've been dating for three years, this is hardly a shock."

"Well it's a damn shock to me! Is this really what's best for Adrian?"  
"Literally nothing will change in Adrian's life, Tom and I are practically married already."

"You're trying to kill me, aren't you? You're actually trying to kill me."

"Draco, it's been three years. Three! I know you've had girlfriends, you can't still be toying with the idea of us, it's not healthy! I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I can't have you angry at me because I want to settle down!"  
"You're not going to last forever with him, Mallory. He's…boring."

"I like boring."

"No you don't! You never have! I know you still have feelings for me! You're just afraid to admit it!"

"The only feelings I have for you are ones of pity."

Mallory regretted what she said the second she said it. Draco turned around and stomped to the fire place.

"Draco! Wait. I didn't-"

"I'll pick up Adrian from daycare Tuesday." And with that, he was gone.

Mallory told Tom what happened as soon as he got home, she felt horrible for what she had said to Draco.

"I think what you two need to do is have an adult conversation, face to face. Why not go out for coffee with him or something?"

"You want me to go on a date with my ex?"

"I want you two to get along better. Every time it's looking up you have another fight, it's not good for Adrian. Apologize to him, soothe his worries about me trying to take his spot. He'll come around to the idea of us. I know he will."

"Have you met Draco?"

Tom laughed, "All in good time, darling. Set up a chat. Set yourself in the right direction at least.

So Mallory listened to her fiancé. When Draco dropped off Adrian Tuesday night, she asked him if they could go have coffee and talk about what happened on Sunday. At first he seemed very confused, but eventually he agreed.

The next night, Tom watched Adrian as Draco and Mallory tried to hash things out.

"I'll be home early." She said as she did her makeup.

"Take your time, dinners almost done and then I'll probably just be up reading. Don't rush home."

She smiled and made her way to the fireplace. They agreed to meet at The Leaky Cauldron where they'd walk to the coffee shop and talk. The conversation started with Draco asking her to rethink her engagement as before, but this time Mallory kept calm and let him speak.

"…I just don't want you making any decisions that you're going to regret. You're deciding to be with him when you haven't even really given me a chance. Just let me show you what life would be like with me. Maybe you'll realize that you don't want to be with Tom." He pleaded.

"I can't just leave Tom for a trial with you and then go back to him when I decide to change my mind. That's not how relationships work, Draco."

Draco sighed as their waitress delivered a second warm butterbeer, "Do you remember how ridiculous we were on the Hogsmeade trips before we got together? We would all order like 10 butterbeers individually and then slip so much liquor into them we'd barely make it back to the castle alive."

Mallory laughed, "I remember one trip when I was visiting the book shop with my Ravenclaw friends and I saw the lot of you stumbling to the shrieking shack and you tricked Goyle into going in and he ran out crying because he swore he saw a ghost."

Draco was laughing too, "Yes! Like, Goyle you live in a castle full of ghosts 10 months out of the year, why are you sobbing? We should go back there!"

"To the shrieking shack? I've never been there sober, to be honest. That time I followed you up was my first and since then I started making my trips with the Slytherins because we were just so much more fun."

"Damn straight, we were. Speaking of fun, I'm not having any. I'm bored."

"We're not supposed to be having fun, we're supposed to be having an adult conversation."

"Well I'm tired of being an adult. Let's go to Hogsmeade, I haven't seen in since the reconstruction after the war."

"I told Tom I wouldn't be home too late…"

"C'mon, we apparate there, have a few drinks at the three broomsticks, and then come right back. Don't you miss Hogsmeade? Have you seen the castle since we left together?"

"No…I've never had any reason to go back…"

"I'm demanding an adventure! Let's go!"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the coffee shop and on to the street.

"Don't let go, now." He said as he apparated them outside of the three broomsticks.

It was dark and quiet outside, but Mallory could hear the sound of music and laughter from inside the pub. She took a moment to look around, she heard of the destruction that the war caused to Hogsmeade, but it all looked the same to her. Perhaps even nicer since most of the stores had to undergo renovation.

They went inside and started off with some hard butterbeers for old times sakes. Then Draco pulled out a card and everything went kind of wild from there. He started buying everyone in the pub drinks. It started with more hard butterbeer and then moved on to firewhiskey, by the end of the night Draco was getting Mallory glasses of absinthe, which she had never even had before but it made her feel like she was on drugs.

At some point she definitely tried to slow down, knowing that not only did she have to work the next day, but she was losing sight of her goal of fixing things with Draco. But then she realized that this was fixing things with Draco. They were laughing and singing together as they reminisced on their days at Hogwarts. Neither one of them were yelling or upset at all. So she let him continue to buy her drinks.

Mallory had no idea how long they'd been there or when everything became a big mass of colors, but the man behind the bar announced that it was last call, so she let Draco lead her out to continue their adventure. He too was quite drunk, but still had some of his motor skills, so he held Mallory up as they trekked up the hill to the shrieking shack.

Mallory stopped about halfway there when she drunkenly realized how late it was, "Draco, I'm cold, let's stop…this…I'm cold." She drunkenly slurred.

He gave her his jacket and put out his arms, "I can carry you!"

She pushed his shoulder and laughed, "Ha! You're as durnk as I am. Drunk. You're drunk. You can't carry me."

"I totally can!" He shouted as he ran towards her playfully. She tried to run away but she just tripped over her own feet and landed in the grass. Wrapped in Draco's jacket she turned on her back and looked up at the stars. He laid down next to her."  
"I never realized the stars. No. I see the stars at home but not this bright."

"That was barely a sentence." He laughed, "You're beautiful."

Mallory ignored him. Even with Draco's leather jacket Mallory was cold. She was wearing leggings and a quarter length shirt and the nice spring day had turned into a very chilly night. She was shivering.

"You're still cold?" He asked.

"It's like 10 degrees." She chattered.

"You always hated the cold. C'mon, I bet it's warm in there." He pointed to the shrieking shack."

"I could fall asleep right now."

"I really could carry you."

She threw her arms above her head, "Prove it."

He effortlessly lifted her up bridal style. He was warm and it instantly made Mallory feel better. It took a little longer this way, but eventually they reached the shrieking shack.

"Shall we go in?" Draco asked as he placed Mallory back on her feet.

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little scared."

"Scared? When you're with me? How ridiculous."

Draco took hold of her hand and lead her into the shack. She was still apprehensive, but there was something about Draco that made her less nervous.

The room they were in had an old loveseat next to a fireplace and a wardrobe, the rest of the furniture was broken. The windows were boarded up and there was barely any pain on the walls. Draco cleaned off the loveseat and Mallory sat down. He started to look around almost nostalgically.

"Voldemort used this place during the war as a hideout as the fighting was going on. I think it's the only place that hasn't been changed since."

"How romantic." Mallory replied sarcastically.

"You want romance? Because I can give you romance." He took out his want and lit the fire next to the loveseat."

"No romance. No no. I think what we've learned tonight is we make solid friends."

Draco Sat down next to her.

"Just friends?" He asked hopefully.

Mallory did have to admit that being extremely drunk in this abandoned house with Draco while wearing his jacket did feel a bit nostalgic. Perhaps it was because she waited too long to respond to him or because the warmth of his body caused her to move in closer, but something that she did caused Draco to feel like he had the green light to kiss her. So he did. Perhaps it was the alcohol in her or perhaps it was his persistence, but Mallory didn't stop him.

As they kissed next to the fire Mallory put her hand on Draco's cheek, this is when she realized that she was wearing her ring. The ring her fiancé gave to her.

"Draco…" She said as she pulled away, "This is wrong."

"It doesn't feel wrong." He said as he moved back in to kiss her neck.

"Yeah, well you're not engaged." She said pushing his head back.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't feel anything right now."

"I…I…" She couldn't lie to him. She felt something. Her heart told her to kiss him. Her head told her to think about the life she had built with Tom. This had been the battle all along. Ever since she had Adrian it just made sense to be with Tom, he was a great man. But at this moment, with Draco begging for her, the last thing she wanted to do was go home to fall asleep next to Tom, she wanted Draco, and she had him.

She kissed Draco will such passion that she pushed him down on the loveseat. She took his coat off and then her shirt and bra. He too undressed, leaving her to pull off her pants in such a rush that she ripped the seam, not that she cared. She straddled herself on top of him and slowly eased him into her. He looked up at her with wonder, the last time they had sex she was very pregnant, and before that she usually let him be the dominant one. It felt amazing to be on top of him, as he grabbed hold of her hips and thrust himself harder into her. When they finished, she collapsed on top of him. She could have fallen asleep there, but the loveseat wasn't nearly big enough for the both of them, and the fire was starting to die out.

"You're amazing." He breathed into her neck, "Come back to my flat. I'm not ready to say goodbye."

She was tempted, but she had done enough for one night. "Take me home." She said softly.

He was obviously disappointed, but she wasn't fooling around. "What are you going to do?" He asked.

"I'm going to go home to my fiancé, Draco. Naturally."

"After all of that you're-"

She pulled her shirt over her head and stopped him, "I'm not…I'm not going to call off the engagement after one good shag-"

He put his arms around her waist, "Two good shags?"

She pushed him back, "I just need some time to think. Okay?"

"Okay." He said as he grasped her hand and apparated her to the outside of her home.

She started walking away, but he spun her back around, "See you tomorrow at lunch, yeah?"

She shook her hand loose, "Yeah."

As she walked towards herself she wasn't sure what her next move would be. Tom didn't deserve to be cheated on. He deserved better than her. But she couldn't walk in and tell him what she had done. It wasn't a mindless thing, or an act of desperation. Mallory had sex with Draco because she wanted to have sex with Draco.

She quietly opened the door to find a sleeping Tom on the sofa with a book laying across his chest. He looked so peaceful. Normally, she would wake him with a kiss and lead him to bed. But she felt dirty. It was nearly three in the morning, but Mallory needed to shower. Once she was physically clean she made her way to bed. It felt odd to sleep alone, but she knew that she didn't deserve to share the bed with anyone at the moment, especially Tom.

When Adrian jumped on her bed a few hours later, her true Slytherin side came out. Tom was in the kitchen making breakfast so she sent Adrian off to attempt to get himself dressed as she slipped into some jeans and did her hair and makeup. After helping Adrian get dressed she went to the kitchen and greeted Tom with a kiss.

"Good morning." She said cheerily.

"Well you sound happy, how'd everything go last night? Sorry I fell asleep before you got home, I must have been more tired than I realized. I didn't read more than five pages and I passed out."

"It was okay. We definitely made progress."

"Well good! Come sit down, have some eggs." He said as he handed her a cup of tea and placed breakfast on the table.

Mallory wasn't sure where this calm, collected version of herself was coming from. Just a few hours ago she was sneaking in and trembling in shame with what she had just done. Now she was seamlessly lying to her fiancé.

After breakfast Tom left for work and Mallory dropped Adrian off at day care before heading to the coffee shop. There was still the feeling of regret in the pit of her stomach, but at the same time she eagerly awaited the lunch crowd knowing Draco would be a part of it.

The line at lunch was always long. It was mostly the business crowd who craved a caffeine refill to get through the rest of the day. The shop was packed, but it was impossible for Mallory to miss that head of bright blonde hair walk through the door. She wished she could be more flirty or seductive for him, but there wasn't much more for her to do than pour his cup of coffee. He looked down at his wallet as he ordered, Mallory wasn't sure what the protocol here was. It wasn't until he handed her his bank card that he looked up at her with a smirk. As she went to scan his payment she realized that he handed her a note with the card. She nonchalantly slipped it into the pocket into her apron and handed over his coffee and his card.

"Thank you very much." She said.

He held her gaze for an extra second, "No, thank you." He said with a wink as he moved along.

When the lunch crowd had died down, Mallory slipped to the back and read his note, "From the moment you left me last night I haven't stopped thinking about you. You've never seen my apartment. Dinner tomorrow night? Around 5. x- Draco."

Draco sure was a dreamer. As much as Mallory wanted to sneak away with him, she had no excuse for disappearing for several hours that would make sense to Tom. Draco's nights with Adrian typically meant alone time for her and Tom.

She ripped up the note and went back to work.

The coffee shop was 24 hours and although she was a co-owner and could choose to work whenever she wanted, she typically put herself on for 9-3 while Adrian was at daycare. Tom, on the other hand was now a full time nurse in the maternity ward. It was a job that he had always wanted, but it did have him to be on call almost all of the time in addition to his 8am-4pm shift Monday to Friday, he was on call 24 hours a day in case one of his assigned patients were having a problem. Many of these expectant mothers were crazy when it came to consistency in doctors. Demanding hours were typical in his profession, that's why he wasn't surprised when he was notified that his schedule would be changing to have him on the night shift 3 days a week.

"I tried to fight it, but they said that they are lacking in experienced nurses for the night shift and that they desperately need me. They even offered to pay me extra those three days! I'm just upset because it means that I'll see you less…" he explained to her as she cleaned up from dinner.

"Oh, Tom. It's okay, we'll work it out. I know how much you love your job, I can deal with missing you a little. What days are they putting you on?"

"Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 3 to 11... Say, what if you worked Tuesday and Thursday nights instead of mornings so we could spend the mornings together? Draco gets Adrian from daycare those days so you don't have to be done by three."

"That's absolutely a possibility! Draco drops Adrian off at 7, so I could do 1-7. I'll change my schedule when I go in tomorrow. Maybe you'll even enjoy the later shifts, sleeping in three times a week can't be so bad." It did make sense for Mallory to change her schedule so that she could see Tom more, but this was a perfect opportunity for her to see Draco. She would have to talk to Draco about it, but if he was willing to make up the lost funds she would have from not working, perhaps those Tom-less nights could be spent with him.

"I bet I enjoyed dinner with you more though."

"You're too sweet." She said in a bored tone as she she took hold of his hands and lightly kissed him. When she pulled away from him, he didn't let go of her hands and pulled her back in to kiss her more. She knew what he was insinuating as he put his hands on her hips and kissed her hungrily.

"Tom, Adrian…" She said as she pulled away from him.

"Won't be here for another hours." He said as he leaned back into her.

She had no excuse. What reason could exist for her to not be able to make love to her fiancé when they had the house to themselves? If she just said no, she would seem suspicious. It's not even like she could fake her period because Tom did the grocery shopping that week and she didn't have him buy tampons. So she did what she had to and had sex with Tom. She wasn't very active, and felt very uncomfortable. All she could think was that if he found out what she did with Draco he would be disgusted with her.

She did her best to act like she was enjoying herself, but as he rolled off of her and breathed heavily to her left, she realized that she didn't really enjoy herself at all. One time with Draco and she didn't want anything to do with her fiancé. Her brain said to shut things down with Draco immediately, and she would have listened if it wasn't for the fact that she was forced to see Draco every Tuesday, Thursday, and every other weekend. At this point, both Draco and Tom were an important part of Adrian's life. No matter which man she chose, the other would be around indefinitely. She just had to make her decision soon, because the ring on her finger implied that her decision had already been made.

Draco dropped Adrian off that night without as much as a second glance in Mallory's direction. It was funny seeing him be nervous around Tom. Even if he did find out about Mallory and Draco, he would never hurt Draco. Tom was the gentlest man Mallory had ever met.

The next day started Tom's new schedule, and even though Mallory insisted that he sleep in, he made breakfast as usual and even took Adrian to day care as Mallory made her way to work before her "new schedule" began. Again, Draco came in at lunch and again he left her a note. This one read, "My mother can't wait to take Adrian for a few hours tonight. And I can't wait to see you. Remember, I'll pick you up at 5pm. & I'll have you home by 11. Promise. x- Draco." She slid the note back into her pocket and stood in confusion as she re-read it in her head. How did Draco know that she had to be back home by 11? She didn't think that Tom mentioned his new hours the night prior, and she hadn't even talked to him. She made sure to remind herself to ask him later.

When Mallory got home with Adrian, Tom had already gone to work.

"Adrian, how would you like to go to Grandma and Granddad's house for a little while tonight? They told daddy that they miss you a whole bunch."

Adrian's face lit up, "YEAH! Gramma has elves!"

Draco had told her how Adrian loved to play with the elves. As a Malfoy, they have to listen to him and he insists that they dance and play games with him. It made Mallory a bit sad to hear that Adrian was already making elves work for his pleasure, but she knew for a fact that the Malfoy's encouraged it, it was who they were.

"Okay, well go play for a little and daddy will be here in a bit to bring you."

"YAYYYYYY!" He shouted as he ran to his room.

Mallory got all dressed up for dinner, as she was sure Draco would also. From lipstick to heels, she looked like she was going to a movie premiere. She emerged ready to go at 4:45, as it took her some time when she had to stop every 20 minutes to tend to Adrian and make sure he was eating is snack and not wetting himself when he forgot to notify her that he had to go the bathroom.

When she walked into Adrian's room he looked surprised, he hadn't seen Mallory with a full face of makeup ever. She was always dressed to work or for a casual day with him and Tom.

"Wow, mommy. You're pretty." He said.

"Thank you, sweetie. How about we get you handsome?"

She changed Adrian into a more refined looking outfit, dark jeans and a little button up shirt, and even used some gel to push his hair back as Draco used to wear it when he was young. At 5 to 5 Draco came in through the floo.

"Daddy's here!" Adrian shouted as he ran to the living room as Mallory was trying to put on his shoes. She scurried after him as fast as she could in her heels.

"Adrian! You can't go to Grandma's house without shoes!"

As she got down the stairs she was stopped in her tracks, "You're supposed to be at work." Was all she could say to Tom's confused face.

"And you're supposed to be making our son dinner." He responded. "What's with the outfit? Where's your engagement ring?"

Of course, that's the first thing he notices, thought Mallory.

"I…I took it off the shower, of course. Not completely used to wearing it, I suppose."

As she finished her sentence, Draco flooed in and nearly knocked over Tom in his arrival.

Tom turned to Draco and then back to Mallory with pain in his eyes. As expected, Draco looked very formal in a dark suit, just like the ones he used to wear daily when he was working for Voldemort.

"Tom!" Draco said in a surprised tone, "I thought you had work tonight."

"Yeah well when there was no lack of staff I went to my supervisor to ask if there was a mix-up. When he was acting higly suspicious and strange I went to his supervisor, who informed me that his filed claimed that one of the hospital's benefactors had requested the change. It was then that I realized that only one benefactor could possibly know my name, that being you, of course. So I claimed that I was sick to come home and find out exactly what the hell is going on. Can I talk to you privately, Mallory?"

Mallory nodded and made her way to their bedroom, giving Draco a worried look as she did.

Her mind was racing. She had no idea what she was going to say to Tom; all she knew was that she didn't want to hurt him. He had been nothing but kind and caring to her from the moment she met him and now she had gone and broken his heart. As sweet as he was, he wasn't stupid, and it was pretty obvious what was happening. They got into the room and he locked the door behind him.

"You didn't tell me you and Draco had plans tonight." He said angrily.

"He…I…well, his parents wanted to spend some time with Adrian."

"Well that's why we have shared custody, so that his parents can see Adrian on Tuesday nights, Thursday nights, and every other weekend. This is our weekend, Mallory."

"Well this is when his parents were free." She was lying to him, and it came so easily. She felt like a terrible person.

"And you were going to this dinner too? Or were you and Draco playing dress up for fun?"

"No, Tom, just let me-"

He didn't even let her come up with a lie, "No, let me. The other night, you come in at practically dawn, drunk, after spending the entire evening with Draco."

"You said you fell asleep early-"

"Well, I lied. But I didn't say anything because I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I did come up with the idea to go out with him to work on your FRIENDSHIP." He paused for emphasis on the friendship. "It's not like going for drinks was against the rules, just a little odd."

He took a breath and continued his rant, "Then, I try to make love to you and you're obviously not very interested, but again, I say nothing because I love you and I'm not going to point out little things that upset me. I assumed you were just having a bad day. I honestly had no suspicions until work tonight. After I realized that Draco was the one who changed my schedule-"

"I had nothing to do with that-"

Tom put up his hand to stop her, "After I got that bit of information, I headed to the coffee shop where I found Bethany. I told her that I wanted to surprise you with a date and asked her to see your schedule. You didn't change your schedule like you said, Mallory. In fact, you just took off the days that I was going to be home. Then I asked myself, Tom, why would your fiancé want to have 8 hours three times a week to herself? And that's when the puzzle all fit into place. Coming home to this was only the icing on the cake. So why don't you tell the truth for once, and tell me what the hell is going on?"

Mallory was stunned. There was no lying to him, he had figured everything out quicker than she could have imagined. She had nothing to say, so she just started to cry.

Never in her life had Tom not consoled her when she cried; even before they dated. But this time Tom just stood there, looking at her.

She calmed herself down and was able to let out, "I'm sorry." between her sobs.

Tom sighed and sat down on the bed with his hands over his face, "How long?"

"It only happened the other night when I went to talk to him."

"No, how long have you had feelings for him?"

"I…I don't know, Tom, but I never wanted to hurt you, you have to believe that."

"So is that it then? Are you leaving me for him? Is this over because you can't take Adrian from me, I've literally been a part of his life from the moment he was born. You're obviously a cruel human being, but you can't be that cruel."

"No…Tom…I haven't decided anything…I just…I don't know."

"Well, here you are, about to go on a date with Draco while I'm hard at work providing for our family, are you sure you haven't made your decision because it looks pretty clear to me, Mallory."

"I still love you…" Was all that she could make herself say.

"Well, you can tell that to your boyfriend waiting downstairs, in the mean time give me a few moments to pack some things so I can move in with my parents while you figure this all out."

"Tom…you don't have to do this."

"I'll come by Sunday to pick up Adrian. If he get's every other weekend I deserve one too."

"No! Please! I'll go talk to him. Let me talk to him, don't leave me!" Mallory was sobbing even harder now, she sounded like a child.

"Go, Mallory! Go! I told you I need time, so go talk to him!"

She kicked off her heels and ran down the stairs to Draco. He was sitting on the floor with Adrian, but the moment he saw Mallory covered in tears he ran up to her and pulled her into the study.

"What in Merlin's name happened? Why are you so upset?"

She pushed him away from her and crossed her arms in defense, "You ruined everything, Draco! You just ruined everything!" She could barely see through her tears.

"What are you saying? Baby, come here."

"No! No!" She shouted as she pushed him back again, "Tom is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me and now he's leaving me because of you! I don't want you here, Draco!"

"No, my love, you're confused. Please. Let me help you. Let him go. You have me. I'm right here for you, I won't leave you."

"If you never left me, I wouldn't be in this predicament, Draco! Just…just leave me alone!"

"I don't want to leave you like this..,"

Mallory then heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. She quickly opened up the door to see Tom heading to the door rolling a suitcase behind him.

"Tom. No no no no no no no. Please. No. Tom. Look at me. Please."

He went straight to Adrian.  
"Hey, little man. I have to go on a little vacation for work. But I'll come around on Sunday and maybe I can take you to the zoo or something fun if the weather's nice, sound good!"

"I WANNA SEE THE MONKEYS!" Adrian said excitedly.

Tom laughed softly and kissed Adrian on the head, "Sounds good."

Mallory softened her cries for Adrian's sake as she watched Tom walk out the door without even looking at her.

"Mallory…" Draco said softly as he put his hand on her arm.

"Take Adrian to your parents, they're expecting him." She said as she pulled away from his touch and headed up the stairs. She could feel his eyes on her.

"Okay, buddy! Are you ready to see Grandma and Grandpa?" Draco said in an excited tone.

"And elves!" Adrian said happily.

"You bet!" Draco responded.

Mallory heard the sound of them flooing to Malfoy Manor as she close her bedroom door.

And then she was alone. It took Tom actually leaving her to make her realize her mistakes. She would do anything to go back to the night she cheated on Tom and change her actions. She truly believed that she wanted Draco, but just like in the beginning he was all lust. She wanted Tom to hold her and tell her that he forgave her. But he was gone.

**Four years later.**

It took 8 months to prove to Tom that he could trust her again; and then another year after that for him to re-propose. As Mallory sat on the Malfoy side of Draco's wedding next to her husband, as they proudly watched their son walk down the aisle with Astoria and Draco's rings, she couldn't have been any more sure that she made the right decision. She had said it before, and she would say it again: Tom was the most incredible man, father, and husband that she could have ever wished for. When Draco announced that he was going to marry Astoria Greengrass, Mallory couldn't have been happier. Life had finally set them on their separate paths, and at last they would be able to live their own lives. Still linked by Adrian, of course, but happily separated from one another by their true loves.


End file.
